Everfree pony
by brotaku98
Summary: the Everfree forest in an unrelenting place, a place of horror mystery and a potion maker, but what if zecora wasn't the only one in there? follow the life of my OC, Gamemaster, as he learns about friendship, family, and love, after a life of sorrow, loss, and betrayal. how will he cope with a new culture, and a new people?
1. leaving the forest

_**Hello everyone, how are you all? Welcome, this is kind of a re-do of a story I deleted. I needed to do a lot of things to fix them, but I had 21 chapter in the story, so I thought I'd re-do it. If you think you want the old one, you don't, trust me. It was very hard to read, and I didn't know what I doing. So anyways, please enjoy.**_

The everfree forest is a relentless place. The weather moves on it's own accord, and there are a multitude of deadly creatures. The cockatrice can turn you to stone by simply looking at you, and you won't know it from a chicken before it's too late. There are hydras, and they are almost Impossible to defeat, for if you cut off one head, two more will grow in it's place. Poisonous plants are in abundance. It is a place where nopony in their right mind could ever enter without a very good reason. But there is one pony who is different, he lived there for twenty years. He learned to watch the animals to know when rain was coming. He earned to never look at a chicken, for fear it would petrify him. He stays away from anything he doesn't see other things eating, and he learned which plants he could use to heal himself from injuries. his life was simple, don't die, but that was easier said than done; especially when poison joke had removed his magic from him. He had never encountered this strange blue flower before, and so he knew of no cure. This tale is of how he left the forest, and he found a place he didn't know existed.

"Surprise!"  
"what in tarnation!?" Applejack had returned from the field, only to find everypony in town all gathered around and in the barn, jumping out from behind barrels, and tables, somehow Pinkie even fit herself into a bowl of candies.  
"what in the hay are y'all doin' here?"  
"well what do you think were doing silly-filly?" giggled Pinkie, climbing out of the bowl.  
"well, I'd think this here was a party, but us'ally you tell the pony yer throwin' the party for that y'all are doin' it."  
"well that would ruin the point of a surprise party! Were you surprised? Huh? I had Twilight and Spike help me make the cake and Rainbowdash set up the decorations and Fluttershy had some animals come over here and they're going to sing you happy birthday and" Pinkie just kept going, making it seem like she was never going to stop.  
"a'right, I git it."  
"so were you surprised? Huh? Were ya? Big Macintosh said that you wouldn't be and I said that my surprise parties were surprisiest and that you would for sure be surprised"  
"yeah, sure Pinkie, Ah was s'prised"  
"oh yay because if you weren't I would have had to pull out my scary mask that always surprises ponies"  
"ah get it Pinkie." Applejack walked over to Twilight "y'all have been watching her sugar intake, ain't ya?" Applejack asked, making sure Pinkie didn't overhear  
"yes, I made absolutely sure she had no excess sugar. I don't know how she's so hyper." Twilight looked confused.  
"okay it's song time! Fluttershy would ask your birdies to start the song? You're going to love it Applejack I asked Fluttershy to extend the song." Pinkie was practically bubbling over with excitement.  
"alright, are you ready?" Fluttershy asked the birds. "if you aren't then that's okay, I'm not going to rush you." the birds nodded, and a chickadee sang out a tuning note. Then all sixteen of burst in rapturous melody, Fluttershy leading them. After a few seconds Pinkiepie began singing, her voice practically exploding with her overactive personality. "Happy birthday to you!" most of the other ponies started singing along. "Happy birthday to you! Your birthday's today! so have lot's of fun! Happy birthday to you!" everypony sang out the last note, then the birds sang out a finish worthy of being sung to Celestia. "well gosh darn it all, you a'most got me to tears. I've never had this big a birthday party. 'twas usually just me, Big Mac , Granny, and Applebloom having an applecake for dessert."  
"I know silly-filly! That's why I threw you this party!" Pinkie was bouncing about, handing ponies punch and muffins. "here Derpy, have a muffin!" Pinkie handed the gray mailmare a muffin, and bounced away.  
"here, have a muffin!" she handed a red unicorn with a Tetris block cutiemark a Muffin, and began bouncing away. "wait just a muffin making minute!" she turned around and bounced back to the unicorn. "I don't recognize you."  
"はじめまして、遊び所軍です。どうぞよろしく。_"  
_"huh? What does that mean?"  
"you talk the Equestrian?"  
"of course I speak Equestrian, silly-filly!"  
"I see, I am, Gamemaster." Gamemaster bowed to the puffy pink party pony.  
"well I'm Pinkiepie I would throw you a 'welcome to Pony-ville' party but we're already at a party." she Bowed back, giggling.  
"oh? who's this?"  
"oh hi Twilight this is Gamemaster he showed up and I don't recognize hem so he must be new and he was talking a funny language earlier and I'm wonder if this should be Applejack's birthday and his 'welcome to Pony-ville' party because he showed up during a party."  
"okay, well, hello Gamemaster, I'm Twilight Sparkle."  
"it is my honor to meet you Sparkle-San, Pie-San" Gamemaster bowed again.  
"alright, well, what are you doing here? As Pinkie said, you're new."  
"ah, yes, I am toxined by a blue flower, I need a cure."  
"huh, A blue Flower? Are you talking about poison joke? But that only grows in the everfree forest."  
"I know not the name of the flower, I only know that it is of the obstructing of my magic." He tapped his horn, which was looking a bit like an odd purple-brown color.  
"oh wow you get the same thing as Twilight when you get poison joked." Pinkie giggled out.  
"alright, just mingle with the other ponies here, I'll go to the spa and get the herbs for the medicinal bath you need."  
"thank you of the much Sparkle-San." Gamemaster bowed low once again. Twilight nodded and began going to the spa.

"well howdy there, I ain't never seen you 'round here. Ah'm Applejack."  
"hello Jack-San, I am Gamemaster, it is my honor to meet you." he bowed low to the orange country pony.  
well then, it's an hon'r ta meet you too." Applejack bowed back. Then went to help Rainbowdash in a game of horseshoes. Leaving Pinkiepie and Gamemaster there.  
"well do you want some punch? Or maybe you want to play a game?"  
"a game?" Gamemaster was highly intrigued, as his name suggested he adored games; they were his one passion, there was nothing more satisfying than watching someone enjoy themselves in a game he made, or showed them. And he was undefeated in every game he had ever played.  
"oh yeah, we can play pinata, or pin-the-tail-on-the-pony ooh have you ever played candy-land? I LOVE that game."  
"have you ever played いれんせい?"  
"huh?"  
"_irensei_, it's a strategy game that's played with an _いご_ board."  
"what's an ayegoh?"  
"no, _igo_, it's a game with black and white pieces, and a 19x19 square board, and you capture pieces orthogonally?"  
"I've never played either of those games! you need to teach me!" Pinkie was exited about learning new games, seeing as parties always needed games and new games were always fun. "alright, I can teach you." he waked over to a table covered in different games, and pulled out a board, and handed Pinkiepie the pieces she would need. "alright, I will go the first." he placed a piece on the board.  
"now the goal is to make a line of seven in any direction, you aren't allowed to make a winning line if part of it is on the two edge rows. if you surround all the points of a piece of orthogonally then those pieces are removed. We'll play with the _ko_ rule, if you were to make a move, and it results in the board looking like it did before my turn, then you aren't allowed to make that move. oh, and if you're black, right now I am so you don't have to worry about this, but I feel I should tell you so you know, then you cannot make a line of eight."  
"oki-dokie-loki!" Pinkiepie placed a piece, and then Gamemaster placed a piece, and back and forth, until Gamemaster won the game.  
"wow!that was fun! We should get Twilight to play this game!"  
"what game should I play?" Twilight walked up to them, carrying some herbs in her mouth.  
"oh hi Twilight! We were playing irensei, It's a game that Gamemaster played when he was a colt."  
"really? Well, here's the herbs, just put these in a bath, and it should take care of your poison joke problem."  
"thank you Sparkle-San." he bowed and placed the herbs in a small wallet-like pouch on his flank.  
"so, apparently I need to play this game?"  
"yeah you do! It's really fun! And it's a game of smartness!"  
"alright." Twilight sat down to play, and Gamemaster explained he rules.

"okay, I got it, so am I black or white?"  
"whichever you prefer."  
"Black."  
"alright." he gave her the pieces and waited for her to move, then he went, then Twilight, then Gamemaster, faster and faster until the pieces were a blur.  
"I win!" cried out Twilight, laying down her final piece.  
"let me look." Gamemaster looked carefully, making sure she had in fact won. "well, as much as it pains me to say it, you are the first pony to beat me in any game."  
"really?"  
"yes, I was always the best in school."  
"wow." Twilight looked surprised that she was better then who was apparently the best in his school.  
"well, I must return to the forest, nothing against you, but other ponies aren't my favorite."  
"wait, you LIVE in the Everfree forest?" Twilight gasped.  
"yes, is that so odd?"  
"um, yeah, I almost died with five other ponies helping me!"  
"how? The forest isn't too dangerous if you know what you're the doing."  
"how long have you lived in there!?" Twilight was astonished at what was she was hearing.  
"let me see, I was at home for six years, and I vanished during spring, and since then there were of the nineteen springs, I think twenty years?"  
"twenty years!" Twilight was expecting him to say a few weeks at most.  
"yes."  
"how did you survive the cockatrice?"  
"I didn't look at them."  
"and the hydras!?"  
"I avoided them."  
"and what about the weather?"  
"well the other animals would seek shelter when there was a storm coming. And I could smell it."  
"smell it!?"  
"yes, it smelled like a bad spell and the lake."  
"what!?" Twilight was amazed at how he got so much knowledge of survival by himself.  
"and in Neighpan we all were taught how to survive in the Shinigami's woods at a young age, so it wasn't so hard."  
"wait, you've been doing that since you were six!?"  
"oh, no, closer to three."  
Twilight was amazed, she had never heard of anyone other than Zecora living in the Everfree forest, and Zecora had apparently been taught survival by her father, and she knew how to make a potion that would make her invisible to threats, but he had nothing but some basic magic!  
"if you don't mind, I need to head back."  
"n-no, wait, you can stay in the library with me!" Twilight had her mentor turn her castle into the library again, she didn't like how she was always treated differently with that huge thing, and Discord had removed her wings.  
"no, houses aren't my favorite."  
"you can stay in a cave to the north!" Twilight desperately wanted this stallion to stay, he was so intriguing, and she couldn't let him live in the Everfree!  
"a cave? Well, I suppose."Gamemaster finally gave in, they seemed nice enough.  
"alright, I'll help you take your things there."Twilight was relieved.  
"what things?" Gamemaster asked curiously.  
"you mean you don't have anything in the forest you want in your new cave?"  
"no, I didn't have things to carry about, I needed to be able to run at a moments notice."  
"goodness. Well, let me show you." she led him off.

"here we are." Twilight nodded to the entrance.  
"thank you." Gamemaster walked into the cave, and Twilight placed a few torches around the cave to light it. The cave was very spacious, it had a deep spring-fed pool in the back, and several crags that could be used for storage. It was empty, probably because inside the cave was a well-known draqonequus. "Discord! What are you doing here!?"  
"well, I heard that this new pony was going to be living here, so I decided to clear all the bats and snakes out." he dusted a wall with a feather duster.  
"really? That's all?"  
"of course, what you think I put something in here?"  
"it's you were talking about here discord. I can never be to careful."  
"well, then, let me prove to you that I did nothing." he walked around for a bit. "see, what did I tell you?"  
"fine, but you be careful Gamemaster, he is not to be trusted." she gave Discord the evil-eye.  
"oh, come on, remember, I'm reformed. What do you think dear Fluttershy would think if I booby-trapped someones new home?" he gave his best innocent look. When they heard a splash.  
"G?" Twilight looked to the pool in the back, where G was scrubbing himself with the herbs.  
"what? You said I needed to bath in it."  
"ohhohohoo! I like you already G. Twilight your face." he wiped a tear from his eye with one claw.  
"well, I'll leave you two." and he poofed away.  
"ah, you know twilight, you should join me, this is quite nice."  
"um, no thanks, that's not exactly, 'normal'"  
"what do you mean? In Neighpan most people go to the public baths."  
"you're in Equestria."  
"alright, fine." he climbed out, and used his now-returned magic to dry himself.  
"alright, you make yourself comfortable I'll come to see you tomorrow." she walked out of the cave and started walking back to Sweet Apple Acres to give Applejack her gift.

"alright, so now I'm alone, I might as well get everything set up." he began using magic to dust parts of the cave. "this place should be interesting"  
"yeah it probably will" he responded to himself.  
"maybe we should get to know more ponies."  
"I'm not sure that's the best idea." he said to himself while he was polishing the rocks of the cave.  
"oh why not?"  
"what if they're cruel?"  
"oh, I'm sure they'll be nice, Sparkle-San and Pie-San were."  
"yeah, but that's just two."  
"Jack-San was nice"  
"so, how do you know they'll all be nice?"  
"how do you know they'll all be cruel?" he cleaned the herbs out of his bath, and started drilling a hole to the side, he thought he heard an underground stream down there.  
"how many ponies have been nice to us?"  
"three." he said to himself vehemently.  
"yes, but how many mocked you? How many uttered that horrid phrase 'blank-flank' when you were the only pony in school without a cutiemark?"  
"all of them." he started to sound a bit depressed.  
"exactly, other ponies are cruel, you should stay away from them as much as possible."  
"but that was in Neighpan, during school. This is a new place, with new ponies." he was slipping between talking in Neighpanese and Equestrian.  
"maybe, but how do you know they'll be different?"  
"how do you know they'll be the same?" he was really starting to get mad at himself.  
"you know what? We're going to try our best to make friends, whether you like or or not!" he stomped his hoof, breaking the rock free, and revealing the stream, and he started polishing the edges.

"excuse me, who were you talking to? If it's okay that I ask that is, I wouldn't mean to intrude."  
"oh, um, nopony."  
"o-okay, I'm Fluttershy."  
"hello Shy-San." Gamemaster bowed down low.  
"this cave looks a lot nicer, um, if you don't mind me saying."  
"thank you, I tried to make it look good." he took some scrap wood he noticed while walking in, and made a few pairs of sandals.  
"if you come in, would you mind putting one of those on? I don't want dirt in the house." he thought that it would be a given, but after Twilight's reaction to his offer earlier, he thought it best to pay it safe.  
"oh, of course." she slipped them on and walked in.  
"did you need something?" he continued to smooth out his make-shift toilet.  
"oh, um, I was just wondering, if it's okay with you, if you needed any help." she squeaked at the end out of nerves.  
"no, I'm fine, thank you much for the offer." he finished his hole, and went around cleaning up the last few spots.  
"oh, um, alright. Did you want to come back to the party?"  
"no thank you, It's getting late."  
"what do you mean?"  
"well, it's summer, the sun always sets later in the summer."  
"Princess Celestia doesn't raise the sun later in the summer?"Fluttershy was confused.  
"what do you mean? You mean the sun doesn't rise and fall on it's own here?" Gamemaster was legitimately confused.  
"no, um, does it work that way in the forest?"  
"yes, next thing I know you'll be telling me that the weather doesn't do as it pleases here." he chuckled at his "joke"  
"um it doesn't, the pegasai take care of the weather." she was slightly embarrassed that she had to tell him.  
"really? Does anything happen happen on it's own outside the forest?"  
"yes, a lot of the animals take care of themselves, but sometimes they need help, so I help them." she fidgeted a bit, finding this odd pony odder by the minute.  
"ah, admirable." he nodded to her.  
"so, um, do you want to go to the party?"  
"no, I'm getting tired, I'll just go to sleep early."  
"alright" Fluttershy waled out of the cave, leaving her "shoes" at the door.  
"have a good day." called out out Gamemaster as she left.  
"good-night." Fluttershy said, and she flew back to the orchard.  
Gamemaster curled up in a corner, and went to sleep, dreaming of the torture he went through bullied as a colt, and what might happen, good and bad, at this new place.

_**Well, I do believe that I'm already doing better this time 'round  
**__**Applejack-"huh, what in tarnation ahm I doin' here?"  
**__**oh, hey Applejack, you and the other ponies are gonna be here and in the intro every chapter, I'll talk with you guys, give the readers news, and generally do things.  
**__**Twilight-"okay, why exactly?"  
**__**'cause I feel like it.  
**__**Twilight- "I'm not sure that's really a reason."  
**__**it is to me.  
**__**Rarity-"goodness, you look awful. What on earth are you wearing?"  
**__**oh great, I figured Rarity and I would get in something like this.  
**__**Rarity-"come here, I'll take your measurements and make you suit."  
**__**I'm gonna be fine, thank you.  
**__**Rarity-"no, I insist."  
**__**no.  
**__**Rarity-"get over here!"  
**__**goodness! Run for my life!  
**__**Rarity-"you will look good!"  
**__**Twilight! Help!  
**__**Twilight-"sorry, no, I'm not mixed up in this."  
**__**Pinkie?  
**__**Pinkie-"nope, I'm with Twily on this one."  
**__**run! Alright, please leave a review. *Huff*, *huff* if you like what you see, follow and favorite, and of course, have a wonderful day. Get away from me with those shears!**_


	2. bullying

_**Hey guys! happy Freya day!  
**__**Rainbowdash-"Freeya? What the hay's that?"  
**__**Freya, it's the Norse goddess of love, and the deity that Friday is named after  
**__**Twilight-"oh, I remember reading about that! Thursday is named after Thor, Sunday is named after the sun, and Wednesday is named after Woden, which was the Germanic ruler of the gods!"  
**__**yep, good job Twilight, A+  
**__**Twilight"yay!"  
**__**Rainbowdash-"alright, you can stop dancing around like that. We all know you're an egghead."  
**__**hey, I adore reading! I actually taught myself how to read when I was two.  
**__**Twilight-"OH MY CELESTIA! you are now one of my heroes, what books did you read!?"  
**__**um, I read the dictionary, the bible, I was raised messianic Jewish, meaning I was a Christ following Jew. And really anything I could my little hands on, including my sister's chemistry books. She is actually dyslexic, so I would read her the textbook while she did her homework  
**__**Twilight-"oh my goodness, you are the most awesome person I have ever met!"  
**__**thank you, but really, I'm not that special, in exchange for my brain, I gave up my fitness, I am very large, but not in a muscular fashion.  
**__**Twilight-"oh, that's alright."  
**__**hey, I leaned a long time ago to not give a shit if someone said something nasty about me.  
**__**Gamemaster-"I wish I had that as a colt."  
**__**oh, trust me, it took a lot of bullying, and a few times when I tried to beat the snot out of some people for my brain to snap into it's current mode. And now I'm ABSOLUTLY BAT-SHIT CRAZY! HAHAHAHAHAH!  
**__**Twilight-"I think he's snapped, Applejack if you please?"  
**__**Applejack-"gla'ly"  
**__**ow, okay, I get I was going of the deep end, but those are hooves, they are a lot more dense than my flesh.  
**__**Applejack-"sorry sugarcube."  
**__**forgiven, well, I suppose it's time to start the chapter huh?  
**__**Applejack-"eeh-yupp"  
**__**huh, I thought only Big Mac did that, oh-well, lest'sa go!**_

"good morning students" Miss Cheerilee walked up to her desk.  
"morning Miss Cheerilee!" the students sang back.  
"today we are going to learn about a very delicate subject, so I personally asked all of your parents and guardians, and they gave this the seal of approval. Today we are going to learn about the Everfree forest. Now what do you know about the forest?" Cheerilee scanned the class, Sweetie-belle raising her hoof frantically. "yes Sweetie?"  
"there are cockatrice in there!"  
"yes, that's correct, does any of you know what a cockatrice is?" Applebloom was waving her hoof in the air "yes Applebloom?"  
"it's a monster with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake, and it can turn you into stone by looking at you!"  
"yes, good job, does anypony know what it's called when you get turned to stone? Scootaloo?" she pointed to the final crusader, who was just as frantic as her friends.  
"petrification!"  
"good job, now then, that's just one creature in the forest, so I got an expert on the subject in here to talk to you about it." several small ponies started crying out names  
"Spike?"  
"Twilight?"  
"Rarity?"  
"Rainbowdash?"  
"Fluttershy?"  
"Zecora?"  
"well, I'm glad you're all so exited about this, but none of you are calling out the right name without raising your hoof." the little ponies quieted down. "the pony in question is new to Pony-ville, so none of you probably know him, this is Gamemaster." all of the fillies and colts were confused. "he lived in the Everfree forest for twenty years."  
"wait, am ah gitt'n this raht? He LIVED in there, fer tw'nty years?"  
"yes, young one, I did." Gamemaster walked into the building "sorry I'm late Cheerilee-Sensei"  
"oh, it's fine, and just Cheerilee, please."  
"alright." he bowed to her, then to the children, and all but Diamond tiara and Silverspoon bowed back.  
"so, before we start, does anypony have any questions for Gamemaster?" Diamond tiara raised her hoof "yes Diamond?"  
"why did you just bow to all of us?"  
"ah, that is simple, I was not born in the forest, I was born in Neighpan, everypony bows there."  
"what's Neighpan?" called out Scootaloo without raising her hoof.  
"wow, blank flank is really jumping the gun, I suppose she has to compensate for not flying."  
"DIAMOND-KUN!" Gamemaster cried out, angrily.  
"what?"  
"what did you just say!?"  
"I said that blank-flank was jumping the gun?" Diamond was confused.  
"does she enjoy being called that!? I know I didn't! I was the last to get my cutie-mark, and I was teased by everypony else in school! I would go home, put my uneaten _obento _on the counter, and run to my room and cry for hours! The only other pony that could calm me down after a few hours was my brither, I would often stay up late meddling with the knifes, sai, and katana in the house and think of how I could end the torture of school with them. I would sometimes run into the Shinigami's forest, and hope that an _onihitokuchi_ would eat me. And you want to put her under that? You deserve to have a nice solid slap for your behavior!"  
"Gamemaster, please calm down."  
"I will calm down when this _ibariki-doji_ either gives a sincere apology or she is punished!"  
"you were bullied as a colt?"  
"yes Scootaloo-Chan, I was. Now Diamond-Kun, you are going to apologize, or may _Amaterasu_ help me I will give you a punishment you will never forget!"  
"why should I apologize? I was just teasing a little." Diamond Tiara knew what she had done wrong, but papa never punished her, nopony ever punished her, this weird pony wouldn't do anything. At least that's what she thought, before Gamemaster walked right up to her, and gave her a hard slap on the back.  
"what did you do that for? That hurt!"  
"exactly! and that's only a fraction of how hurt I was when I was bullied! And that pain will go away!"  
"Mr. Gamemaster, we leave punishment to the parents!" Cheerilee was astonished at what he had done.  
"well clearly he doesn't! Or else she would have not been doing it." Gamemaster was redder than before with rage. "now listen here, you are going to apologize. Right NOW or I'll slap you again so hard, that Y_amata-orochi_ couldn't make you sting more!"  
"I'm sorry Scootaloo, Applebloom, Sweetie." Diamond was astonished at how much that had hurt, and Gamemaster's statement really stuck with her "_that's only a fraction of how much I hurt...and that pain will go away!_"  
"I had no idea that my teasing would hurt ponies so badly."  
"good, now then, does anyone else have a question?" Sweetie-Belle raised her hand.  
"yes?"  
"can I make you an honorary Cutie-mark crusader?"  
"what's that?" he spoke softly, like he was a different pony then who was just berating Diamond Tiara.  
"well, Scootaloo, Applebloom, and I started a society for ponies that don't have cutie marks, and we try to find out what ours is."  
"I would be honored Belle-Chan" he bowed.  
"excuse me, but does anypony have a question about the Everfree forest?" Cheerilee was very annoyed.  
Pipsqueak raised his hoof.  
"yes?"  
"did you ever fight a hydra?"  
"I ran from some, but I never fought one. That would be foolish, they're bigger than this schoolhouse, and have multiple heads."  
"what's the Shinigami's woods?"  
"you could say it's the Neighpanese Everfree, but unlike here, the weather handled itself, so really monsters were the only difference in there."  
"what's a _onihitkushi?_"  
"an _onihitokuchi _is a one-eyes monster that eats ponies."  
"wow, did you ever see a cockatrice?"  
"yes, but fortunately, it didn't see me."  
"what other monster are in the everfree?"  
"there are chimeras, they have the head of a goat and a lion, and it's tail is a live snake."  
"alright, thank you Gamemaster, I won't tell Mr. rich about what you did, but I can't speak for Diamond Tiara." it was clear that Cheerilee was trying to be kind, but she thought that his his actions were unacceptable.  
"I am willing to accept anything that her father will do to me, but I REFUSE to allow bullying to happen in front of me." Gamemaster was very vigilant In his statement.  
"I'm not gonna tell papa." Diamond Tiara clearly still stung, but the shock of an actual punishment burned Gamemaster's speech into her mind.  
"I never knew bullying could hurt that much." Silverspoon was shocked as well. She didn't know what a Y_amata-orochi_ was, but with the way Gamemaster said it, she knew it was bad.  
"um, G?" Diamond Tiara looked up.  
"yes?" he spoke with the same calm he did Sweetie.  
"what's a Y_amata-orochi?"  
_"it's not a what, it's a who. _Yamata-orochi, _or Y_amata no Orochi_, which translates to 'eight headed serpent' was a demon god, who demanded the sacrifice of a maiden to him every year, for seven years, Until the god of the earth, S_usano_ was expelled from heaven for tricking his sister, _Amaterasu_, the sun goddess."  
"like Celestia!"  
"a bit, and _Susano_ fell in love with the mare who was to be the eighth sacrifice, a mare named _Kushi-inada-hime_, or _Kushi,_ meaning 'comb rice-field princess.' and so _ Susano_ worked with her to make a holy _sake_, or rice wine, which they could use to get _Yamata-orochi_ so drunk that he couldn't fight. _Susano_ cut of all of his heads, and lived with _Kushi_ for many years after."  
"well, now then, wasn't that interesting? So now you need to head home, so say goodbye."  
"bye Gamemaster!" they all called out as they left, some bowing.  
"thank you for punishing me Gamemaster, I never really thought about how much it hurt, and I never thought I'd get punished." Diamond Tiara bowed lower than all of the other ponies, and started leaving until Gamemaster called out to her. "Diamond, wait a bit."  
"um, yeah?" she was bit worried, understandably after what happened.  
"I just want to say, that I am proud of you for being able to understand why I did that. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to stop your bullying with just one time, and you clearly are growing up." he smiled.  
"okay, thank G." she smiled and left.

"now you listen here Mr. 'I'm so great, I'm from a Orient country, I can do whatever I please' Gamemaster, my daughter's life is not a game for you to play!"  
"might I ask how you knew?"  
"I was suspicious about you, damn Neighpanese, can't trust any of you!" Filthy Rich was pacing around the cave, which now had a cape on the wall to show he was an honorary cutie-mark-crusader.  
"that doesn't answer my question, and you forgot to put on indoor shoes when you came in."  
"I don't give a shit about your 'indoor shoes' you live in a cave like an animal!"  
"please answer my question."  
"I had Jeeves follow you, you bastard!"  
"well, I'll admit, I don't know how things work here, but in Neighpan it is illegal to stalk somepony."  
"clearly you don't! I wouldn't have even needed to have Jeeves follow you, Diamond Tiara came home with a bruise the size of an apple!"  
"are you aware that your daughter was bullying other ponies in her class?"  
"yes, but it's good for them, they need to be bullied at there age!"  
"what the FUCK did you just say!?" Gamemaster straitened up, his monstrous form made strong by years of fighting and running. "did you just say it was GOOD for them!?"  
"yes, they need to be taught they they're inferior." Filthy looked smug, like he knew what he was talking about and that he was right.  
"did you just say inferior!? I WAS THE SON OF THE SHOGUN! OTHER THEN MY BROTHER I WAS NEXT IN LINE TO RULE FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND PONIES! WAS I INFERIOR!?"  
"I don't know what a 'shogun' is, but you were not going to be a ruler." Filthy looked smug as ever, and though he tried to act like he knew what he was saying, he knew nothing about what he was talking about.  
"LISTEN HERE! I NOT ONLY FOUGHT OFF BEAST LARGER THAN YOUR CASTLE FOR TWENTY YEARS, I HAD FOURS YEARS OF BEING TAUGHT EIGHT MARTIAL ARTS, SWORDPLAY, AND HOW TO EFECTIVLEY USE TWENTY-THREE DIFFERENT WEAPONS BY MY FATHER! I KNOW HOW TO GET YOU TO SHIT YOURSELF!"  
"oh really? You're bluffing." Filthy looked even more smug. Until Gamemaster grabbed three different nerve clusters, and a pile of filth left Filthies rear.  
" NOW YOU LISTEN HERE! I DID NOT LIVE THROUGH SUICIDAL PERIODS AND DEPRESSION, LITTERALLY SPENDING MY DAYS CRYING IN MY ROOM TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT IT'S GOOD FOR THEM!" he lifted the business pony, and manually threw him out of his home "NOW YOU LISTEN HERE! IF I SO MUCH AS SEE YOU AND YOU DON'T APOLOGIZE IMEDIATLY I WILL BEAT YOU INTO SUBMISSION, YOU HEAR!?"  
"this will not stand you know. You physically harmed me and threatened me with physical violence, and you attacked my daughter, the laws on my side."  
"you just try! I could destroy anything you send after me!" the rage in Gamemaster's eyes was burning as if he was possessed by Y_amata _himself.

"what were you thinking!?" Twilight paced in the library, after Gamemaster explained what had happened.  
"I was thinking that he was a bastard that deserves much worse than I could give him with the help of a thousand _shinigami_."  
"do you know how hard this is going to be to handle? Morally I'm with you on this front, but legally he is right, I can't really do anything to help you." Twilight was amazed at how irresponsible he was.  
"again, the entire Equestrian army could come after, I could fight them off single hoofedly. And I know both father and brother would join me, if I could only communicate with them"  
"oh, I don't doubt that, but there's also the Wonderbolts, and Luna has the Shadowbolts. No single pony could handle all that, even with the Neighpanese army."  
"who said it would be only me fighting? I said I would be the only pony."  
"excuse my french, but what the hay are you talking about?" Twilight was amazed that he still thought he would win.  
"oh, you haven't seen how I played games in the everfree, and how I kept myself busy." his horn glowed, until a perfect replica of Filthy showed up, and then Gamemaster beat it until is vanished.  
"what was that?"  
"I call them AB's, artificial beasts, they have commands put into them, and then they manage themselves."  
"what, how?" Twilight was amazed, she had never seen anything like this before.  
"I make it, and then I set it up to draw magic from the air. Then they are self-sufficient. And I can make them do things."  
"what do you mean 'magic in the air'?" Twilight was getting more confused the longer he explained it.  
"when ever something happens that uses magic, there is a slight excess discharge right?"  
"yes, but that just dissipates." Twilight was wondering what he meant.  
"no, if diffuses, don't you remember the first law of energy?"  
"energy cannot be created or destroyed, only manipulated." Twilight was starting to understand. "so when I use a spell, part of that stays in the air?"  
"yes, then the AB uses it to power itself." Gamemaster was glad she was finally understanding.  
"okay, but I don't see how this helps you, you should only be able to make a few of these."  
"yes, in theory. The thing is I quickly realized that if I set it up with a cellular growth system, I can make a small bit of it, then it will make itself. I use more energy eating then making one."  
"so in theory..."Twilight was amazed.  
"I can make thousands, even millions." Gamemaster looked her in the eye. "now do yo see why I'm not afraid?"  
"that in itself is terrifying! You could conquer the planet, and you could still have enough magic to turn a pebble into a castle!" Twilight finally put all the pieces together.  
"yes, exactly. But I don't want to rule the Planet, I didn't even want to rule Neighpan, even though my brother offered."  
"I'm not sure whether to be in awe or terrified." Twilight had a look of both on her face.  
"Twilight?" an alicorn walked in, her head high and regal.  
"Celestia!?" Twilight turned around to see her old mentor standing there.  
"Hello, ah, and hello Gamemaster." she nodded.  
"it is an honor to meet the ruler of this land." he bowed deeply.  
"well, you shouldn't be glad to see me. I should be here to send you to Tartarus after what you said you can do."  
"of course, I understand completely, I knew what my actions would bring." he hung his head, not in shame, but in compliance.  
"but I'm not going to." she held his chin up with her hoof.  
"Princess?" Twilight was astonished, not upset, but confused.  
"while you did technically attack a filly, threaten a stallion with physical harm, and attack him. He also invaded your home without your consent, encouraged bullying, and, I'll be honest, I really don't like him."  
"um, Princess, I don't mean to step out of place, but isn't what G did still illegal?"  
"yes, but I feel he was completely justified in what he did."  
"what!?" Filthy walked in, wanting to see Gamemaster being banished, then thrown in a dungeon where he was banished to, and tortured, only to find her pardoning him. "he made me defecate on myself!"  
"and you deserved it! And you didn't apologize, I am a stallion of my word!" Gamemaster dashed forward to beat Filthy into a bloody pulp.  
"now Gamemaster, allow me." Celestia looked Filthy in the eye. "if you had listened to your daughter when she was talking to you, like a proper father should, you would have heard that she thanked him for her punishment."  
"what!? Has my daughter really become that soft?"  
"no, she understood! Something you clearly don't! This stallion was bullied to the point where he nearly committed suicide, and you encourage that!? You want your daughter to be that filly!? Maybe you didn't read the laws, but if your daughter were to force somepony to the point where they did commit suicide, it would be considered a murder charge. We don't put murderers on timeout, or spank them, we put them in prison, with the other murderers, and thieves, and serial killers. You should be thanking Gamemaster for doing something you couldn't, father your daughter. I am charging you with neglect."  
"what!? You can't do that!" Filthy was amazed that he was being charged after he was attacked.  
"yes, and as two princess' are here, if both of agree, then you are charged guilty."  
"two?" Gamemaster was confused.  
"yeah, I'm a princess, I just didn't like the wings, so I had Discord remove them." Twilight explained."and, as a Princess, I say that Mr. Filthy Rich is guilty."  
"I concur, as two princess' agree on your guilty charge your daughter is going to be taken from you to protect her."  
"who would take care of her!?"  
"well, until somepony adopts her, she's going to live at the orphanage. Don't worry, it's funded by the government, so she won't starve."  
"wait!" Gamemaster butt in, hurriedly.  
"yes?" Celestia eyed him curiously, what does he want?  
"I will adopt Diamond Tiara."  
"you!? No! I refuse to let my daughter be adopted by a violent mad-pony!"  
"Filthy! She is not your daughter anymore, only by blood is she related to you!" Twilight glared at him.  
"do you have a source of income?" Celestia needed to run the adoption requirements list.  
"I don't know what that means, but I do know that I can take care of a filly, and I can fed her better than the orphanage."  
"how old are you?"  
"twenty six."  
"well, I know you have a home, and you haven't been found guilty of any crimes. But are you sure you can feed her?" Celestia was worried for the filly  
"I did it for twenty years myself, didn't I?"  
"yes, but you need a job."  
"wait! I know!" Twilight was exited about something.  
"yes Twilight?"  
"he does have a job! If he chooses to accept it."  
"what are you speaking of?" Gamemaster was also curious, and at this point even Filthy was willing to be quiet to hear it.  
"you can run your own business! I know of a building in the square that's been abandoned for a while, it's not clean, but it's sturdy, and you can sell games!"  
"I see."  
"and the best part is, I was thinking of starting a book shop, so I have the deed right here!" Twilight grabbed a scroll, and signed it. "if you just sign here, then the buildings yours!"  
"I see." Gamemaster signed his name.  
"well then, seeing as he's now a business owner, there's nothing legally stopping you from adopting her."  
"though, I would like to ask Diamond if she would like to live with me." Gamemaster was sincere in his tone.  
"hah! Now I know that she won't be living with you! No-pony would want to live in a cave!"  
"are you sure, **Filthy**?" Diamond tiara walked in.  
"honey bunches!" Filthy dashed at her, only to be stopped by a wall of violet.  
"you are being separated, she is not your daughter."  
"and yes, Gamemaster, I would love for you to be my new father." Diamond was both angry at her father and exited to live with this new pony, so her voice was very odd.  
"alright, I'll bring some of your things from you house to the cave, unless you want to sleep on the cave floor." Gamemaster joked.  
"um, actually, I did." Diamond Tiara grinned sheepishly and scuffed the floor.  
"really?" Gamemaster was surprised, she had grown up sleeping on soft sheets, why would she want to sleep like an animal? Or him as the case would be.  
"yeah, I want to see what it's like for you. And I don't want anything from home here."  
"alright." Celestia filled out some paper and had Gamemaster sign it.  
"alright, she is your daughter now, take good care of her." Celestia handed him the papers. "and as for you." she turned to Filthy, who was trying to slip away. "you are going to a level two prison." prisons were set up into three levels, one was simple things, like petty theft, and drugs dealing, level two was for major theft, neglect, abuse, and breaking and entering. Level three was mass murder, terrorism, serial killing, gang violence, assault and battery, and torture. "maybe there you will learn the severity of your actions." Celestia teleported him off.  
"well then, today was eventful." Gamemaster thanked Twilight for what she did, and looked over to Diamond Tiara. "alright Diamond, you want to help me start cleaning up the building."  
"yeah sure, and maybe you can tell me stories from Neighpan!" Diamond looked the happiest she'd ever been.  
"maybe, and maybe you can tell me more about here." Gamemaster smiled at her, and they walked out.  
"what was all that commotion?" Spike walked down the steps, rubbing his eyes from his nap.  
"maybe I'll tell you later, for now we need to close up the library." Twilight winked at him, and started cleaning up the library.  
"aw man, I'm always kept out of the fun." he picked up the broom and started to sweep.

_**Well, that chapter was long. In case you couldn't tell I hate bullying, and I thought I'd redeem Diamond Tiara.  
**__**Diamond Tiara-"wow, this is going to be very different."  
**__**Gamemaster-"yes it is, for both of us."  
**__**alright, so please leave a review, and if you liked it then favorite and follow, and I also feel like the name of the story is kinda, um, bad, so if you have a suggestion, then whoever suggests my favorite first gets a shout out. So have a wonderful day, and remember to give a smile to someone today :)**_


	3. buildings and relationships

_**Hey guys, how are you? I hope you are all doing well. I for one am doing dandy. I just got back from mowing a large portion of my grandma's VERY big yard, and I'm glad I can just sit down and write, or type I guess.  
**__**Twilight-"well I'm glad you helped your grandmare."  
**__**um, she's human, she's a grandma.  
**__**Twilight-"sorry."  
**__**hey, no problem, I probably write 'someone' and such from time to time. I try to catch it, but sometimes I can't. And if some of you are disappointed that these chapters aren't long as some story's, I'm sorry, But I personally don't like really long chapters. I sometimes just want to spend ten minutes reading a chapter before bed, and when there's a ten thousand word chapter, it takes a good thirty minutes, and sometimes enough happens I need to re-read the chapter to get it, so I'll be wanting to get some sleep before school tomorrow, and I need to spend forty minutes to an hour, and now it's like eleven in the evening, and I need to wake up in six hours and I still am trying to process it while I'm in bed. So maybe I just have a thing against long chapters, but I also realize that at one point I wrote maybe one thousand two hundred word chapters and there wasn't enough room to actually put something. So with that out of the way, to the chapter!**_

"Diamond! You need to wake up! Schools soon!" Gamemaster was scrambling to get her lunch.  
"ugh, I'm waking up." Diamond Tiara rubbed her eyes.  
"Diamond, you'll be late!" Gamemaster gave her a lunch bag, and a cup of herbal tea.  
"what's this?" Diamond took of sip of the tea, and she felt a jolt run through her, the tea tasted like honey and peppermint, and she immediately left her drowsy state.  
"It's _kocha_, I added some honey and mint, usually it tastes a lot more bitter." He put her saddlebags on her, and motioned. "I'll walk with you for a bit., I need to head to the building."  
"alright." they walked out of the cave, and the sun shone on them.

"it's nice out today isn't it?" Gamemaster took a deep breath and filled his nostrils with the smells of dew, and and scent of apples floating on a breeze from Sweet Apple acres. The sounds of the morning birds made a melody that was as if angels had come down to sing with the feathered choir, and the sounds of dogs, cays, and other pets gently flowing from the main sections of the town, along with the soft hoofsteps of Diamond Tiara trotting alongside him. The taste of the grass, town smells, and the _kocha_ he had drunk mixed on his tongue, making a taste like fine wine and carefully prepared tea, or a fine meal like when father made supper, and there was tea, and _sake_, at least for his dad, and fish salad, and he always had fried rice and jam for dessert, the memory filling him with warmth. As he felt the grass tickled his hooves, and the sun warmed his back. and the grass and flowers outside his home were perfect, with just enough flowers, in enough places for it to be beautiful, as if it was a carefully maintained garden park. And as they neared the schoolhouse, he saw fillies and colts playing, and it reminded him of when he had a friend, before she had gotten her cutiemark, and how she would always play with him. And remembering his colt-hood friend made him happy that everypony in this school was safe, though Diamond would need to gain the trust of some of them back. But he believed in her.

"Diamond, honey." he said kneeling down so they were face-to-face.  
"yeah Dad?" she asked, ready to listen. Gamemaster was overjoyed hearing her call him dad.  
"now, you won't be able to gain the trust of the other ponies back right away, and I can't make them okay? You'll need to spend a lot of time to become their friend. But I think you can do it, okay?"  
"alright, I understand." and she did, she remembered how long she had made fun of them, and she knew it would be as hard as Gamemaster had said it would be, maybe even harder. But if he believed in her, then she could believe in herself.  
"alright, good, have a good day."  
"alright." she gave him a peck on the cheek, and went over to the cutie mark crusaders.

"hey there." she said, her head down a bit.  
"oh, hi Diamond." said Scootaloo, feeling very on-edge, she was going to make fun of her, wasn't she?  
"listen, I know that it will take a long time, and a lot of effort, to gain your trust, but I wanted to start my own crusade by saying I'm sorry. I should never had made fun of you, and I should have been more kind" she hung her head more.  
"really? G didn't make you say this did he?" Scootaloo was not buying it, she was made fun of the most after all.  
"no, and I understand why you don't trust me. I'll just go inside to get ready." and she started walking off.  
"wait now Dah'mond." called out Applebloom. "ah'm very glad you apol'gised to us, that cou'ldn't 'ave been easy." she said it with her country twang, and smiled at her, before Diamond ran into the school.

"thank you for the help Jack-San, I have never tried to start the business before." Gamemaster was dusting a few things, while Applejack took apart some older walls, leaving gaping holes in the walls that an AB fixed behind her. "o'course G, yer laik mah cousin in business now, so I should help y'all out." she finished tearing down the old boards, and took them all out to a cart.  
"really, I am very thankful. I never could have fixed all this without you lending me wood."  
"aw, Big Mac was just gonna end up grindin' 'tall up and throwin' in ta compost. and we have more than we need a'ready." Applejack threw the last of the old wood into the bin "an' iff'n he wants to throw wood in there, this'll do jus' fine." Applejack hitched herself up, and looked back. "if yah need more help, jus' give me a holler, if yah dun need any work, and ya need advice, Granny smith gives tah best."  
"thank you Jack-San, I am in your debt." he bowed and the orange pony nodded back, and pulled the old semi-rotten wood to the orchard.  
"hello Gamemaster, I see you're working hard." Twilight walked up to the sweating unicorn, Spike walking next to her with some lemonade.  
we brought lemonade!" spike handed Gamemaster a glass, and put the tray on the counter.  
"thank you Spike-San, Sparkle-Sama."  
"okay, what in Equestria are those things you keep putting after our names?" Twilight asked, very confused. "mine changed."  
"they are the honorifics." Gamemaster, in a way that seemed to suggest he was astonished they didn't use them.  
"that doesn't help. What do they mean?" Twilight was very curious, and sounded almost like she was in class, asking her dozens of questions that had all the other students groaning.  
"well, they show different levels of respect, and the relations of the speaker about the mentioned pony. For the example, -San is like Mr. or Ms. In Equestrian, and -Sama means that you are in a position of authority, or very highly respected."  
"I heard that you said -Chan a lot while you were at the school."  
"ah, yes. That means that they are younger, or like a younger sister. -Kun means that you have been in an organization longer, or you are superior, and -Senpai means you have been in an organization for less time."  
"ah, okay." Twilight was quickly absorbing all of the information like her brain was a sponge.  
"and a lot of ponies know of -Sensei, which means doctor or, more commonly in Equestrian dubbing of anime, teacher."  
"ah, alright, so really you can just call me Twilight. I didn't have so much effort put forth to be called 'Sparkle-Sama' you know."  
"alright Spa... I mean Twilight." he blushed.  
"oh, don't worry." she smiled at him. "so how have things been going? You seem to have cleaned up a lot."  
"yes, Jack-San helped a lot."  
"um, you do know her name is Applejack Apple, right?"  
"ah, no, I suppose I should call her Apple-San."  
"why are you always using our last names?" Twilight was clearly starting to treat this like an 'entry to Neighpanese culture' class.  
"ah, because it is a matter of respect. The family is much more important in Neighpanese culture, so you call an acquaintance by there family name." Gamemaster tried to stay patient with Twilight, but as soon as he answered a question, another one would come up right away. 'This mare is impossible to please, she always needs more knowledge.' he thought to himself.  
"so whats your family name, surely your entire family is not 'the Gamemaseters.'  
"ah, no. I actually have forgotten what my family name is. I did not speak with another pony for twenty years, I didn't really need to remember it. If only I could find someway to communicate with my family I could." he was mentally kicking himself, if only he could find it out. But there was no way to send letters to them, seeing as there was no inter-national mail system, and even if he could He didn't remember what his old address was, or if they still lived there, what if his father had been overthrown?  
"oh, now that's not your fault. And whats anime?"  
"ah, that's a kind of magical projection, similar to my AB, but they are controlled by several ponies, like a play, but with a distinctly different style, like a moving manga."  
"manga?"  
"comics."  
"comics!?" Spike was interested now. "really!?"  
"yes, but I'm not sure Twilight would like you reading them. In Neighpan we are much more liberal in the showing of breasts and blood. And you never know if you'll accidentally grab very inappropriate material."  
"yes, I think Twilight would not like her little Spiky-wikey reading that, maybe when you're older," Twilight wagged her hoof at him  
"oh come on, I'm only a few years younger than you!" Spike was trying desperately to get more reading material, he was always running short, and new comics never showed up fast enough.  
"maybe, but your brain and body also grows at a much slower rate, in dragon years you still only a few years old."  
"aw." Spike sulked a bit, and drank more lemonade, slurping as much as possible because he knew how much Twilight hated it.  
"Spike! How many times do I have to tell you not to slurp!?" Twilight gave the exact reaction Spike was expecting, and he grinned a little on the inside. But he did not except Gamemaster's reaction.  
"now Spike-San, I do think you should listen. She is the one who hatched you, so she is like your mother. It may not seem like it, but she loves you, and wants you to be happy. Would you like it if you were talking to Rarity-San, and she did everything she could to annoy you?"  
"wait how do you already know about my crush on Rarity?"  
"really it wasn't that hard, the only pony who doesn't really know is Rarity-San herself."  
"oh, well, when you put everything that way. I'm sorry Twilight, I shouldn't be trying to upset you." he bowed a little, remembering that Gamemaster always did it.  
"what? How? Why? Bugunganrufbgirupviadhvf?" Twilight was so confused, how in all of Equestria did Gamemaster get him to comply so quickly?  
"it's simple, as opposed to trying to berate him, I explained to him, in terms he understood, what it was he was doing, in gentle way that showed I wasn't mad." Gamemaster shrugged, as if everypony but Twilight knew that. "and, understanding children is kind of like a game that they write the rules to. Once you know the rules, and you exploit them, it becomes easy. Trying to raise a child, and not knowing what rules that they all follow, and which ones they made up, would be like playing _pachinko_ without knowing what you had to do to win."  
"are you sure your cutiemark shouldn't be a baby?"  
"yes, I'm sure." Gamemaster smiled and bowed. "and if you don't mind, I have to finish cleaning."  
"oh, right, come on Spike."  
"can I stay with G for bit?"  
"ugh, if it's okay with him I don't see why not." Twilight sounded very supportive.  
"of course, I can tell him the story of the _aka-manto_, but I warn you Spike-San, it's will be the scaary!" he waved his hooves in a ghost motion.  
"alright!" Spike pumped his claw, and put the dishes in Twilight saddlebags. "man-date with G!"  
"alright, G, make sure he isn't **too** scared."  
"of course."  
"alright, I'll be back in an hour Spike." Twilight walked out of the old building while Gamemaster started his story. "it all started when a young stallion was walking home from school, "

"Dad!" Diamond ran up to him, and gave him a hug.  
"hey there Diamond." he ruffled her mane a bit. "how was school?"  
"oh, it was fine, I got there and I apologized to the Cutie-mark-crusaders for making fun of them." she had to try really hard not to call them 'the blank-flanks.' but she did it.  
"good for you! That must not have been the easiest."  
"no it wasn't, but I'm going to keep trying to make everything up to them."  
"good, I'm proud of you." Gamemaster smiled. "what else happened?"  
"well, me and Silverspoon played buck-ball with Pipsqueak, that's his name by the way, and" Diamond kept going on and on. 'ah, it's so nice to hear her talking about her good day. I forgave her pretty quickly, but I couldn't stay mad at her for too long. I'm so glad that everything worked out, though I am going to have to get the business really going.'  
"do you want to know the rules of buck-ball?" Diamond asked, exidledly  
"yeah, of course!" Diamond explained all the rules, and Gamemaster listened carefully. 'I suppose something I should put on my list of things to sell should be balls for this game too.' soon enough they arrived back at the cave, and Diamond put all her things away.  
"do you want a carrot to take with you while you to play?" Gamemaster tied one of his small wallets to Diamond.  
"what's this?"  
"oh, well, when I go out I don't like to carry a lot, so I make these, they work well for carrying a few bits, or a few carrots." he slipped a few in.  
"okay, I'm gonna go play!" she ran out.

'ah, kids. I'm really surprised she went from living a luxurious life to a life like mine so quickly and seamlessly. I suppose she really is mad at her Father when she found out how much he didn't pay attention to her. She probably wants to distance herself from her old life."  
"well, that was an interesting speech"  
"Sparkle-Sama!" Gamemaster was surprised she was here, what did she want with him?  
"just Twilight, remember? I'm here to check up on how you were handling a daughter. Though it seems you have everything taken care of."  
"I really hope so. I feel like she's not telling me things a lot. Her stories always seem to be almost in third pony, she doesn't really say, 'and that made me mad' or 'that made me exited.'"  
"I know, I often feel the same thing with Spike, I suppose they just get that way as they get older. By the way, are you sure that the story wasn't too scary? He had to go to the bathroom and he insisted that I keep watch outside."  
"oh, well it was about a ghost who would ask weather you wanted blue or red paper, then would either decapitate you or choke you to death. I suppose I should have told him a different story huh?"  
"yeah!" Twilight looked at him angrily. "alright, well, I suppose I can't be too mad at you. Spike should have told you if it was getting too scary." she smiled.  
"I really should have told him a better story. Maybe I should have made up a story."  
"maybe, but he does need to learn to face his fears, and hey, if he poops himself out of fear, at least he'll be on the toilet." she smiled, and her smile slowly faded when she thought he didn't think it was funny. Then Gamemaster burst out laughing, and after a bit, so did Twilight. "oh goodness, I should not find that so funny." Gamemaster chuckled, trying to calm himself, before he'd mumble "already on the toilet." and he burst out again, and they laughed for several minutes."well, as they say in Neighpan, 'laughter is better then any apothecary.'" he giggled out, then he straitened. "we have a saying a lot like that 'laughter is the best medicine.'" and they both calmed down. "well, I need to clean up, a filly really knows how to mess the place up huh?" he looked around, somehow her homework had ended up next to the bath.  
"yes, I'll leave you to it. I need to make sure Spike isn't just sitting in the corner holding a 'comic sword'" Twilight walked out. Giggling to herself from time to time.

"hey there Diamond, did you have fun?" Gamemaster had made rice and stir-fried fish, with a side of peanut-broccoli I made dinner, I thought I'd make a traditional Neighpanese dinner, and tomorrow you can show me what Equestrians usually eat for dinner."  
"um, what's that on the rice?" Diamond was confused.  
"fish, haven't you ever had fish?" Gamemaster thought everypony had fish, though he didn't know how Equestrians ate.  
"um, but weren't they alive?"  
"yes, if you aren't comfortable eating it you don't have to. Though if it makes you feel better, I only got as much meat as we needed. And I personally, though most Neighpanese don't do this, thanked the fish for it's nourishment."  
"so in Neighpan you eat fish?"  
"that, and squid, octopus, clams. We live on islands, and so we learned to eat a lot of things from the water."  
"um, okay." she took a tiny bite of the fish. "this is tasty. Thank you fishy, for letting us eat you." and they both dug in.  
"that was really good, thank you." Diamond Tiara patted her tummy.  
"your welcome, I'll take of the dishes." he took Diamond's fork, his chopsticks, and the plates to a bowl of water he had gotten to wash it in, and put it one of the crags, pouring the water and food waste into the stream. "there we go, the food we break down and make plant food, then we can eat the plants." Gamemaster smiled to himself, and then he heard Diamond yawn. "are you tired?"  
"yeah." Diamond started walking over to her space she slept on the other day, to find some ugly, but soft sheets on the ground, and a blanket. "what are these?" she poked it.  
"well, I thought you might get cold, and the rocks might be bit hard, so I used some leaves and fabric, and asked Rarity-San to help me make this for you, in exchange for bathing opal-essence. A trade that resulted in a few scratches." he rubbed his arm. "but now you'll be warm"  
"thank you!" Diamond Tiara ran up to Gamemaster, giving him a huge hug. "it's beautiful." and she meant it, because it was made by the stallion who helped her learn how to be a better pony, something Filthy had never done, he was always just working, and he never listened to her stories, or tried to help her when she had problem.  
"well, you should get some sleep." he tucked her in "sleep well my shining Diamond." he stroked her mane.  
"night Dad." she rolled over, and in a bit she was breathing softly, and the blanket was rising and falling in rhythm. "may you never become dull." he went to his corner and went to sleep, dreaming of kids, and dragons, all prancing in a field, while him and Twilight watched them, smiling.

_**Alright, sorry this is so late in the day, in fact, most of you will probably read this on Sunday at earliest.  
**__**Twilight-"well, I'm glad you are working so hard."  
**__**thank you.  
**__**Pinkiepie-"awe, 'my shining Diamond, may you never become dull' that is just the cutest thing ever!"  
**__**shhhhh! Diamond Tiara is sleeping.  
**__**Pinkiepie-"sorry."  
**__**forgiven, just so you know, the apothecary saying isn't japanese, I made it up. Alright, well, I don't want to drag this on and wake up Diamond. So please leave a review, and if you liked it, follow and favorite. And never forget to give someone a smile today, it's free and will make their day, David guarantee.**_


	4. remebering

_**Hey there guys, how are you? I was reading a new review by guest, and he mentioned that ponies are herbivores. I thought, that if one person was a bit confused, more would be so I will explain. It is a cultural thing for the people of Neighpan to eat seafood, as in japan they eat a lot of seafood, being surrounded by water and all. And if you think about it, then you see them eating cupcakes, and cookies, and things all the time. And as anyone who bakes knows, you can't make those without eggs, milk, butter/margarine etc. and they eat fries, and that is either cooked in vegetable oils, or animal fats. So, while it is not what most writers do, I am going to have some be vegetarian, some vegan, and some eat meat, just like in real life! And I may or may not have a chapter or recurring conflict be the vegan and vegetarian ponies getting angry at the carnivorous ponies. And with that out of the way, along with a thank you to guest for the review, who I can't P.M with a thanks, let the chapter begin.**_

"morning Diamond." Gamemaster looked over at her. It was Saturday, so she didn't have to go to school.  
"morning." Diamond yawned, and cuddled into the sheets.  
"you want to sleep in longer?" Gamemaster had some fried tofu on a plate, and another plate he was eating with his silver chopsticks, his only possession from Neighpan.  
"what's that?" Diamond rolled out of her bed, like wet bread.  
"fried tofu." Gamemaster put a fork into it. "there's some peanuts and honey on it." he took a bite off his plate. "I thought you would like that better then the extra spicy tofu here." he motioned to his plate.  
"thanks." Diamond carefully tasted a piece, and it tasted like a candy. "wow! That's good."  
"yes, _Chi-chi-San, _sorry, my Dad, taught me how to cook; before I vanished." he sighed, and took another bite of tofu.  
"vanished?" Diamond looked confused. "But you're right here."  
"yeah, now. But when I was six, I went to sleep, and then I woke up in the Everfree forest. I slept with these chopsticks, because my older brother gave them to me. So they're the only thing I have from Neighpan." he looked at the chopsticks and sighed, and he ate another piece of tofu. "then I lived there for twenty years, and you know what happened from there." he moved a few pieces of tofu around, and flipped them from side to side.  
"well, now you have another family. You have me, and everypony else in Pony-ville." Diamond smiled at him, trying to cheer him up.  
"yeah, you're right aren't you? Well, do you want to help me finish cleaning up the building? We still have a lot of things to take care of." he smiled at her, noticing how much she reminded him of his colt-hood friend. She was really trying to help him, and she even looked a bit like her. He can't let her know how much he had going on inside. He had to be strong for his shining Diamond.  
"yeah, sure!" she took her last bite of the tofu before placing her plate in front of Gamemaster.  
"what do you me want to do with it?"  
"well, wash it." she was confused.  
"you can do it, you have hooves. You need to learn, I'll not always be here."  
"what?" she was astounded, she never had to wash her own dishes, Jeeves always did that.  
"you heard me. You can wash your own dishes." he looked at her, with that look on his face. That look that just screamed 'girl, I am in charge of you, I don't want to punish you, but don't think I won't' that look was almost a punishment in itself.  
"okay." she walked over and washed her dishes.  
"good job my shining Diamond." he gave a reassuring smile.  
"thank you." she smiled back, getting an opposite feeling from his look earlier. His smile filled her joy, like she had done something right, and now she was getting a medal from Celestia herself.  
"alright, let's go." he put his chopsticks in his wallet, and waved Diamond on.

"alright, I think we're ready to paint. Don't you?" he looked around, they had worked hard for several hours. And the place looked clean, outside of the old paint and lack of decor.  
"yeah, but I'm getting hungry, and tired," she rubbed her back. And her legs were getting sore.  
"alright, what do you want to get for lunch?"  
"can we get Mc-haynolds?"  
"what's that?" Gamemaster asked, not understanding.  
"It's a hay-burger place." she said, like he should know what it was.  
"well, I'm not sure where it is, but I only have a few bits, so I hope it isn't too expensive."  
"oh, no, it's only eight bits for a hay-burger, and four for fries."  
"well, let's see." he pulled the few bits he had out of his wallet. "I have, on, two, three... twelve bits."  
"oh." Diamond Tiara shuffled her hooves.  
"oh, don't worry, I can get my own food, I'll get you some Mc-haynolds."  
"really?" she looked up at him.  
"yep, we're surrounded in food, if you know where to look." they went out of the building, and Gamemaster was collecting dandelions and an assortment of weeds as they moved,

"welcome to Mc-haynolds, can I take your order?" the tired looking teen-pony was sitting behind the counter.  
"can I get a hay-burger, and fries?"  
"yes, that'll be twelve bits." he held out his hoof, and Gamemaster put the coins into it.  
"thank you." they grabbed her food, and they sat down.  
"oh, it's no big deal. I have this anyways." he pulled his make-shift salad out of his wallet, and started eating.  
"excuse me sir? You can't bring in outside food." the teen-pony called out.  
"really? I'm sorry." he started getting up.  
"excuse me? He's been working all day, and he spend the **last** of his bits on food from you, and you're going to kick him out? If you do I'll tell every-pony I know about your lack of proper customer service." Diamond piped up, using a the voice she would use when Jeeves would be there.  
"oh, I'm sorry, sir you can sit down, I'm sorry, I should have been more considerate." the pony working the the register looked like he had made a grave mistake, and he was worried.  
"oh, no, don't worry. I'm sure you were just doing what your S_enpai_ told you to." he waved it off.  
"no, really, here, have a bowl." the teen brought him a bowl, and a packet of dressing.  
"really, don't worry." Gamemaster smiled and bowed to him.  
"really, at least take the bowl." the teen put the bowl in front of him.  
"alright." Gamemaster put the weeds in the bowl, and continued to eat it with his chopsticks.  
"if you need anything: water, some dressing just call me over." he went back over to take care of another customer.  
"thank you." Gamemaster smiled at Diamond.  
"it's fine."she smiled at him.  
"excuse me, mister Gamemaster?" another pony walked up to him.  
"yes?" Gamemaster looked up to see a pony in a Mc-haynolds uniform and a name-tag that said 'manager'  
"I heard about what happened, I'm sorry, he's new." the manager nodded to the teen that they were talking to earlier.  
"really, I'm fine." Gamemaster waved his hoof nonchalantly.  
"no, really, would like a coupon?" the manager was clearly trying to make sure that Gamemaster was happy.  
"really I'm fine."  
"can we put an ad in the entryway?" Diamond asked him.  
"yeah, sure." the manager was relieved.  
"alright, when Dad makes an ad, we'll bring it over." Diamond nodded to Gamemaster.  
"alright." the manager walked to the back to handle an argument.  
"well, I''m done." she put her tray on the bin and such, and G put the bowl in the trash.  
"thank you for coming!" the teen called out.  
"of course." Gamemaster bowed to him.

"thank you!" Diamond was hoping around Gamemaster like Pinkiepie, while they walked to the building so they could paint, decorate, and get everything going.  
"of course, you've worked hard, you deserved it." Gamemaster smiled.  
"um, can I go play with Silverspoon? I've been working all day." Diamond looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes.  
"yeah, sure, just make sure you don't get into any trouble." he laughed and tousled her mane before she galloped off. "ah, kids." he returned to the building where he found Twilight, and she was there with a bucket of paint, painting the walls.  
"Twilight?"  
"oh, there you are G, I thought that you had so much to do, that I would paint a bit, I saw what colors you had here, and your notes, though I did have to translate them from Neighpanese, and I started." she smiled and kept painting.  
"um, well, thank you. I appreciate it." he picked up a brush and began painting as well. "so, how have things been with spike?" he asked, hoping his story didn't scar the baby dragon for life.  
"oh, he's doing fine, he's not afraid of toilets anymore." she giggled to herself.  
"that's good, so, tell me, I know that you hatched him, but I never really heard the whole story." he glanced at her, pleadingly.  
"oh, well, when I was a student..." she told him the story, and a fine story it was, Gamemaster was laughing the entire time.  
"goodness, that ranks up there with stories my brother told me." his giggles dyed down, and he began painting silently, until Twilight broke the thick fog of quiet.  
"um, so what is your brother like?" she asked, she could feel the tension in the air and in her voice.  
"oh, well, he was very delicate. He knew what to say, and when to say it to make me feel better. Though he was also very into martial arts and fighting, but not war. He would always play a game of _igo _with me every Saturday, and both of us got ridiculously good. He had a filly-friend when I was four, and I far as I know, they are still together. She was a tall bright purple earth-pony mare, a few shades lighter than you, and she was very athletic, and would race him and me constantly. He really loved her. He would stay up late writing poems and stories for her, but he always threw them out, I could hear the scratches of the quill, and the crumpling of paper when he was done. I will always remember him the same way I did as a colt, as a super-hero, some-pony stronger then the great Natsu."  
"wow, he seems amazing." she could feel his admiration for his brother coming off of Gamemaster is waves.  
"yeah." Gamemaster had a few tears running down his face, which Twilight wiped off.  
"now, there, I know you must miss him. I have a brother too, and he's all the way in the crystal empire, and I can't really send him letters either. Spike can only send letters to Celestia with his fire-breath." she patted him on the back.  
"I remember, he gave me my chopsticks on my sixth birthday. They were the best present I had ever gotten, and I slept with it for a week, before I showed up here. It's the only thing I have left." he started sobbing uncontrollably, tears washing down his face, and snot bubbling out of his nose.  
"It's okay G, you'll be fine, I know, I understand." Twilight just held him, wiping his face clean, and stroking his mane. "you'll be fine, everything's going to be fine, I promise."  
"thank you Twilight, I'm *sniff* fine." he wiped his face clean and continued painting.  
"no, here, I'll take you to the library, and you can read some books, and I'll read, and you'll be just fine." she led him out of the building, locking the door behind her, and brought him to the library, where they read for a few hours, until Gamemaster calmed down.  
"thank you, but I need to go. I need to make Diamond dinner." he got up, and walked to the door.  
"of course, remember, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here." Twilight waved him goodbye, thinking about how much that pony must have gone through.

"hey Dad, I'm back!" Diamond walked in, putting on her indoor shoes and kissing G on the cheek.  
"hey there sweetie, I'm just finishing dinner. We're having yams and broccoli"  
"broccoli?" Diamond hated broccoli  
"yes, it'll help you grow big and strong." he put the plate in front of her, and gave her a fork.  
"alright." she grumped and took a bite, only to find she didn't hate it."wow, you know what? I like it!"  
"good for you!" he smiled at her, and ate his food  
"hey Dad, you look like somethings on your mind, what is it?"  
"oh, it's no-pony Diamond."  
"wait, I never said a pony? Ooh, are you in loove!?" Diamond clapped her hooves together. "who is it?"  
"oh, again no-pony."  
"is it miss Cheerilee? Or maybe Applejack? Ooh, maybe you like Fluttershy!?"  
"no, it's no-pony."  
"the more times you say that, the more I think it **is **some-pony." she looked at him expectantly.  
"fine, I think, I'm in love with, um, Twilight." he blushed, which was barely noticeable against his coat, and shuffled his hooves. "but you know what? I think it's time for a certain filly to go to bed." and he cleared her dishes. "I'll take care of the dishes, you get some sleep." he started washing them off.  
"go." he grinned at her.  
"alright, good night."  
"'night my shining Diamond, may you never become dull." but Diamond didn't hear him, she was already fast asleep.

_**Well, I do believe that this is rather short, but I think I put in something strong enough that you'll need to process it a bit anyways. And on top of of that it's like, midnight, so yeah.  
**__**Twilight-"you should sleep, you may not be a kid, but you're not superhuman!"  
**__**I know, I'm just gonna finish this chapter so the readers have something to enjoy during memorial day.  
**__**Twilight-"okay, well, sleep tight."  
**__**alright, oh and before I forget, what should G name his games shop? I have my own game site, but it would be kinda cheap, and self-promoting, to use that! So, please leave a review, and if you enjoyed it then follow and favorite, and remember to give someone a smile today.**_


	5. run-away filly

_**G'day mates!  
**__**Twilight-"are you Austallion now?"  
**__**no, I just wanted to do that. So anyways how are you all doing? I hope you all enjoyed your memorial day.  
**__**Rarity-"oh David, come here, would you?"  
**__**oh no! What's she going to do to me Twilight!? Help!  
**__**Twilight-"okay, you can back up a little, I'm sure she's not going to attack you or something, just go.  
**__**Alright, fine. Yes Rarity?  
**__**Rarity-"ah, yes, here we are."  
**__**A suit, why should I have expected anything else? Listen, Rarity, I appreciate it, but I don't do suits. I stick with t-shirts and jeans.  
**__**Rarity-"but, goodness, why would wear that when you could wear a suit?"  
**__**listen, Rarity, thank you, but no  
**__**Rarity-"you will wear this suit whether you like it or not!"  
**__**ohmygodrun!  
**__**Pinkiepie- "ooh, running sounds fun! Weeeeeee!"  
**__**Pinkie! Please, why!? Here's the chapter, hopefully by the time it's over I can escape.**_

"Howdy there G, how 're ya doin'?" Applejack trotted up to Gamemaster as he finished putting the last touches on the outside, now the only thing he needed was a name.  
"oh, Hello Apple-San. I am finishing this here, but I'm drawing the blank when it comes to a name."  
"well, I dunno, maybe 'Game's master games' or somethin'" Applejack shrugged.  
"no, not quite, I'll worry about it later, I need to pick up Diamond." he put the paint cans away.  
"how 'ave you been doin' taking care o' that filly?" Applejack leaned against the counter.  
"ah, wait! That, paints still wet." Gamemaster tried to warn her before she got color all over side.  
"ah, it's fine. You're actin' like I ain't never gotten any paint on myself b'fore." she got off, and reached down to re-paint the part of the counter she had leaned on.  
"don't worry, I need to let it dry before I do that, just leave it." Gamemaster shrugged.  
"a'right." Applejack stood up strait. "so, are ya gonna answer mah quest'on?"  
"oh, Diamond has been just a joy. But she's getting older, so she's getting an independence streak."  
"oh, ah know exactly what yer talking 'bout, Applebloom get's the same way."  
"I don't think I really met the 'cutie-mark-crusaders', even though they made me one."  
"oh, they made you one too? Th'same thing happ'ned to Rainbow."  
"well, sorry, but Diamond going to wonder where I am."  
"o'course." Applejack walked off, heading to the orchard.

"Diamond?" Gamemaster was amazed, he couldn't find her anywhere. "Diamond!" he had looked everywhere at the school. "excuse me, Cheerilee?"  
"yes?" Cheerilee looked up from her grading to find the parent of a student.  
"have you seen Diamond since the end of class?"  
"no, I saw her leave, I thought she was heading home." Cheerilee looked confused, and worried.  
"no, I said I was going to pick her up, and that I would take her to Sugarcube Corner, she wouldn't want to miss that." Gamemaster was pacing now, his horn glowing as he made and destroyed AB.  
"she may have went right over there." Cheerilee had a voice of reason.  
"yes, yes, maybe. I go there." he made an AB to act as a ride, and vanished at speeds that would make Rainbowdash jealous.

"is Diamond here!?" Gamemaster burst into the sweet shop, which was having a slow day, and looked around frantically.  
"no, I'm sorry, other then Scootaloo, you're the first pony to be here." Mrs. Cake was sympathetic, she would be just as panicked if little Pumpkincake were missing.  
"where is she?" Gamemaster was getting frustrated, and stormed out.

"Diamond!? DIAMOND!?" Gamemaster was just running everywhere, trying to find her. He had checked everywhere she could be. He checked the park, he checked the boutique, he even tried the Cutie-mark-crusaders tree-house, but she was no-where. "DIAMOND! WHERE ARE YOU!?" and then Twilight trotted up.  
"what's wrong?" she gave him a look of curiosity.  
"I can't find Diamond Tiara! Please help me look!" he fired out, the words barely able to be understood.  
"oh my Celestia! Of course I'll help." she went around and looked, both of them trying to find the pink, purple, and white filly. Until Gamemaster found himself in front of the library. "DIAMOND!?" he crashed inside, where he found the filly reading a book while Spike cleaned. "Oh my goodness, I am so glad you're safe, don't you ever do that again!" he cried out, speaking in a cross between Equestrian and Neighpanese, while he ran up and grabbed and hugged her. "I was so worried that something had happened to you! Oh my _Amaterasu_! Don't you ever scare me like that again!"  
"did you find her?" Twilight dashed into the library. "oh thank Celestia."  
"young filly! What were you thinking!?" Gamemaster was furious, and he was relieved, and every other emotion in the spectrum.  
"oh right! I was supposed to wait for you!" Diamond climbed out of Gamemaster's grasp. "I am so sorry!"  
"you better be sorry! I was terrified that something had happened to you!" Gamemaster was pacing again. "you were so exited that I thought you would remember for sure!"  
"yeah, but then Spike had come over and talked about all the books, and so I can over here to read." Diamond was almost in tears.  
"alright, alright, I'm just glad your safe my shining Diamond." stopped pacing and just flopped to the ground, his hooves angling everywhere like they were trying to escape. "oh my _Amaterasu._" he just lied there, panting. "um, Dad?" Diamond was worried about what had just happened.  
"I'm fine. I'm fine, W_atashi wa _fine, _watashi wa daishobu_, I'm _daishobu." _he muttered the phrase for about fifteen minutes, before he got up. "alright, alright. I'm okay."  
"no you're not!" Twilight admonished him. "you need to sit down!" she dragged one of Rarity's drama couches, how Rarity hides these things all over nopony will know, and placed Gamemaster on it. "now you just rest there, you hear?" she waved her hoof at him.  
"alright, alright, alright, _so, so, so, so_" he went back into just repeating the same phrase in Equestrian and Neighpanese again.

"hey Diamond, would like to stay here for dinner?"  
"um, yeah sure, what happened?" Diamond was worried for her adoptive father, and was hoping she didn't do anything wrong.  
"oh, well, living in isolation for twenty years, then having one pony that he really cared about, you, really made him dependent on you to keep him sane. When you vanished, he panicked, the same thing happened to him, remember?" Diamond remembered him talking about how he just woke up in the Everfree one day. And his chopsticks. "wait." she walked over to his wallet, which had fallen on the ground, and pulled out his silver chopsticks. "oh, his chopsticks. His brother gave them to him on his sixth birthday." Twilight looked proud of Diamond for remembering. Diamond put the chopsticks in Gamemaster's hands, wile he didn't snap out of it, he clearly relaxed a bit.  
"and you know, I really admire him for being able to take care of you. He managed to be responsible, and he's went through a lot. He's been kind to everypony, other than Filthy, but he deserved it, and he he's always been ready to help me when I needed it most. I think. I think I'm love with him." Twilight finished, blushing and looking to the side.  
Diamond opened her mouth to say that Gamemaster loved her, but then shut it, because what if Dad didn't want her to know yet? "oh, wow, maybe you'll become my mom" she said instead, trying to diffuse the serious situation.  
"heh, there's a cute idea." Twilight looked over at Gamemaster's form, he was quivering, and had changed his phrase to "father, C_hi-chi-San, Onii-San,_brother."  
"I'm gonna make some food." Twilight went over to the kitchen.  
"alright." Diamond was worried about Gamemaster, so she walked over to him. "hey Dad, I know you're in some weird panic mode, but I wanted to tell you thank you for taking me in. you've been taking really good care of me. Twilight loves you too, but you probably won't remember that. I've been getting along with the cmc better. And Scootaloo has been getting better at flying, she can do a cool gliding thing, she'll jump off of something and she'll fall really slowly. And Sweetie-belle has been getting better at magic, she can lift things really easy." Gamemaster changed his phrase again, now he was saying "my shining Diamond, may you never become dull."  
"I'm gonna help Twilight make dinner." Diamond went to the kitchen.

"how's he doing?" Twilight was mixing some bread dough.  
"he changed what he's saying again, now he's saying 'my shining Diamond, may you never become dull.'"  
oh, yeah, that's what he says to you when you go to bed 'good night my shining Diamond, may you never become dull.'" Twilight looked at the dough and sighed. "you know, should I tell him how I feel?" Twilight was confused, she had never felt this way before. she had read about it, but that was always a situation that was perfect.  
"um, I don't know." she wanted to tell her how Gamemaster felt, but she didn't know if he wanted her to. And then the phrase changed, now he was just randomly choosing between Apple-San and Twilight.  
"I'll make dinner, you go read." Twilight smiled at her, but Diamond knew that she was faking it, Filthy gave her that smile all the time.  
"alright." Diamond went to read, but she wasn't able to focus on the book. Twilight and Diamond ate dinner, and then Diamond kept reading, until she fell asleep, and Twilight put her in the spare bed, still a bit bumpy and out of shape from her sleep-over, and all of them slept.

"I hate you!" Diamond screamed and ran away from Gamemaster, until she was standing in the Shinigami's forest, and she was eaten. Then he was back in the library, and Twilight was cuddling with some Stallion, and Gamemaster was stuck in a cage. With the bones of two stallions, which he realized was his brother and Father. And then he was stuck underwater, he couldn't breath. He saw Mother underwater as well. Being eaten by mereponies. Her blood staining the water and the teeth of the mereponies. Then he was watching Twilight slap him "you idiot!" she kicked him out, and everypony in Pony-ville ignored him, then he was in Applejack's house, and he was watching as Applejack was being beaten by a bunch of stallions, including Big Mac. Then he was in nothing, then he was inside his building. "hello stallion." Luna floated down.  
"who are you? Are you going to hurt me as well?" Gamemaster was on the defensive.  
"I am Princess Luna, don't worry, I'm here to help you." Luna walked to the place that Applejack leaned on. "remember this?" Luna pointed to the lack of paint.  
"yes, we were talking about children, and she leaned on it." Gamemaster put his hoof on the wood.  
"yes, talking, like friends." she took him to when he was searching. And he saw Twilight helping him. "and here, if she didn't like you, she wouldn't have helped you search." Luna showed him the morning when he was talking to Diamond. "alright, wait for me, and we'll head to Sugarcube corner, and get some cupcakes."  
"all right!" Diamond was dancing with how happy she was.  
"look how happy she was at the idea of being able to be with you." Luna took him back to the lack of anything. "you are fine. I understand what's happening. I was on the moon for a thousand years. When I came back it was almost a new culture. I even did the same thing as you did."  
"really?"  
"yes, I sat there and would just say the same thing hundreds of times." Luna smiled "so I understand, but you can't just shut down now, you have a filly to take care of."

*gasp* Gamemaster woke from his trance, and saw Twilight and Diamond in front of him.  
"DAD!" Diamond jumped on him and began crying. "I was so worried, an it was all my fault, I'm so sorry!"  
"it's okay. I promise." Gamemaster hugged her for several minutes.  
"um, G. I'm, um, I'm glad you have yourself back." Twilight stuttered, not knowing what to do.  
"thank you for helping me Twilight." Gamemaster smiled, and then got up, wobbling a little, and started trotting to the kitchen "I'll make breakfast." he started getting out pans, and seasonings.  
"are you sure?" Twilight asked worriedly.  
"yes, cooking helps me focus." he started mixing some muffins, and making fried eggs.  
"alright." Twilight sat down, and rubbed her temples, and started sorting books.  
"um, Twilight, I need to head to school." Diamond said tentatively.  
"oh, right. You know what, eat your breakfast, I'll go with you and explain what happened. Twilight finished her self-massage and started cleaning.  
"what's going on, you guys have been so loud." Spike walked down the steps, yawning with sparks coming out of his mouth. "hey Diamond Tiara, hey Twilight." he started cleaning with Twilight.  
"um, hey Dad, can I help you make breakfast?" Diamond was starting to feel out of place, and awkward.  
"of course." Gamemaster finished mixing some muffins. "you want to help me make the smoothy?" he pulled out a blender and some fruits.  
"sure!" Diamond started putting things into the blender, bananas, apples, grapes, and berries.  
"thank you" Gamemaster continued cooking, and soon enough the meal was finished. They ate with silently, and Twilight took Diamond to school while Gamemaster washed the dishes.

Soon Twilight was back, and they stood in the main area of the library awkwardly.  
"um, so, thanks for taking Diamond to school." Gamemaster said, trying to break the ice.  
"your welcome." Twilight, shuffled her hooves. "thanks for taking care of the dishes."  
"of course." Gamemaster nodded, and then both of them were awkwardly standing there, while Spike ate some sapphires in the drama couch.  
"um, so, have you read anything good as late?" Gamemaster tried to use her favorite subjects.  
"um, not particularly." Twilight mumbled "you?"  
"oh, um, I'm not good at reading Equestrian." Gamemaster pulled out his chopsticks, and began twirling them about.  
"ah. Okay." Twilight looked out the window, seeing a few birds, but nothing interesting.  
"um, well, how has Spike been?" Gamemaster said, gesturing to the hungry dragon.  
"oh, he's been doing fine, though he has needed more sleep lately, and I thought he was lazy before." she chuckled at her own joke.  
"well, that's good?" Gamemaster wasn't sure, all he could do was look at this mare who, he thought, looked as perfect as a mare could get. She wasn't the skinniest, or the most muscular. But she looked healthy, and she was so intelligent. She was one of the first to help him, and she was generous, and friendly. And she could always make him laugh, and was so very loyal to her friends. She was all five of the other elements all wrapped into one. And Twilight could just look at the stallion before her, he was strong, but at the same time, he looked like he could fall apart, like he was made of jello. He was kind, and passionate, and he was taking care of a filly, not an easy task. He was mysterious, but he was open. his coat, while not gleaming with the spa shine hat Rarity's coat had, was clean, and the color made him look like a warrior. "um, did you ever do martial arts?" Twilight asked, tentatively.  
"oh, yes, it was one of the things that Father taught me, along with using katana, and _sai, _and the blow-dart gun. Along with an assortment of exotic weapons." he tried to sound humble, but let a trickle of pride out after he mentioned his Father.  
"that sounds interesting, did you ever go to war?" Twilight tried not to bring up anything, too sensitive.  
"oh, no. the last invasion was thousands of years ago, when the Maregolians attacked, they were pushed back by the _kamikaze_."  
"I thought kamikaze was when a pilot would fly his plane into another one?" Twilight had read more than a few war novels.  
"ah, yes, that's what it means in a modern setting, but I mean _kamikaze_, the divine wind."  
"oh, so a tsunami." Twilight brightened.  
"yes, I suppose, that's what historians think anyways." Gamemaster was starting to get edgy with all this talk of Neighpan.  
"oh, am I making you uncomfortable? I'm so sorry!" Twilight cried out when she saw him pacing like a school-colt who had done something wrong.  
"oh, It's fine, really." he tried to stop pacing. "um, what was it like for you to grow up?" Gamemaster tried to change the subject.  
"oh, well, I grew up mostly with Celestia, I was a filly when I went to her school for gifted unicorns. as I grew up I focused more on my studies and books then on other ponies, so I didn't really have any friends, I didn't think I needed them. Soon enough, I came to Pony-ville to stop Nightmare moon, and the rest is in my journal and letters to Celestia, at least the stuff that wasn't just same-old, same-old." she shrugged. "my life growing up wasn't as exiting as yours I suppose." and she smiled sheepishly.  
"okay, I see, um, well. I think that your story was very interesting, in fact, I bet right now that your life, and the life of your friends, is so interesting that you guys will become famous, and ponies will write stories about you to practice writing, or for fun, heck, you may even get entire groups dedicated to you." he looked at her. "I think you're pretty interesting."  
"um, me too." neither of them really knew what to say anymore.  
"um, I need to go take this book to Fluttershy." "I need to head over to the cutie-mark-crusaders tree-house for a 'special meeting.'" they both shouted at the same time.  
"sorry!" and they did it again.  
"my gosh, do you two have to yell?" Spike was lying down, crunching on a few emeralds, and reading a book on dragon mating habits.  
"Spike! What are you reading!?" Twilight took the book from him. "this is not for young dragons!"  
"aw, it was getting good." Spike pouted.  
"young dragon!" Twilight glared at him.  
"um, I hate to play Devil's advocate, but how many dragon years is he? Thirteen, fourteen?"  
"um, I'm not sure." Twilight admitted.  
"well, I'm thinking he's probably hitting puberty. It's perfectly natural for him to be curious." Gamemaster shrugged  
"oh, fine, but I'll **teach** him, no learning it on his own, I don't want him to read something perverted." Twilight grumped.  
"that, and if you read, here." he pointed to a sentence. "it says 'while dragons grow psychically slower then ponies, they reach sexual maturity at roughly nineteen years of age' I'm thinking that even if he is a late bloomer, he is at that age." he closed the book.  
"G, I think you just became one of my favorite ponies." Spike smiled, and tossed an emerald to him. "here, they taste like mint."  
Gamemaster, to Twilight's surprise, munched the emerald, and crunched on it hard. "what? How!?" Twilight had never heard of a ponies jaw being so strong, or there teeth handling that.  
"oh, I had to eat a lot of, less pleasant things, like the bones of fish, and stones, for minerals"  
"what?" Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing.  
"yeah, and you know Spike-San, that's not really mint, it tastes more like mint and honey." Spike crunched another.  
"huh, you're right. Suppose I should update my log." he pulled out a cookbook, and added a note, so that he could remember that.  
"well, I do believe it's time for me to go, thank you Spike, and Twilight, thank you for all the help you gave me." Gamemaster bowed, and Spike bowed back. "good bye."

_**how many of you were expecting G to eat an emerald?  
**__**Twilight-"not me!"  
**__**well, yes, we established that.  
**__**Fluttershy-"oh, goodness, I didn't know that dragon fact."  
**__**um yeah, I made it up, it's non-canon.  
**__**Applebloom-"hey, yah didn't put tah meeten in there!"  
**__**next chapter, promise. And by the way, sorry about no chapter yesterday, I had a touch of writers block, and a lack of insperation.  
**__**Twilight-"oh, that's fine, I'd rather read a delayed good story than a bad on-time story."  
**__**thank you.  
**__**Spike-"G, we should hang out more."  
**__**Gamemaster-"I suppose we should hang the out."  
**__**future chapter, promise. So, please leave a review, if you liked it please follow and favorite, and remember to give someone smile today! :)  
**__**Rarity-"you didn't forget about me, did you?"  
**__**nonononononononono! I thought I lost you!  
**__**Rarity-"get over here!"  
**__**oh come on Rarity! I already closed the chapter! You can't chase me now!  
**__**Rarity-"oh, yes I can!"  
**__**ow! hey! No stop that! This is an invasion of my personal space!  
**__**Rarity-"you can get it back when you look decent!"  
**__**ow, no!  
**__**Rarity-"get over here! You still need to put on your bowtie!"  
**__**Doctor Whooves-"ooh, bowtie? Bowties are cool?"  
**__**Doctor? Help!  
**__**Doctor Whooves-"um, sorry, screwdriver doesn't work on fashion-crazy mares."  
**__**AAAH! Please leave me alone!  
**__**Rarity-"you will look good!"  
**__**please, stop!  
**__**Rarity-"fine, but only because I'll ruin my coat"  
**__**oh, thank GOD. *huff* *huff* I can breath. I think I could use a drink.**_


	6. Silverspoon

_**Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!  
**__**Twilight-"um, it's not Christmas."  
**__**I know, but I'm listening to the twelve days of Christmas on Pandora. fiiiive, goolden riiinngs!  
**__**Twilight-"okay."  
**__**okay, so, besides that, I think I'll throw a random fact in here, because it just came to me, and I think it's cool, look at your hands. Guys, your ring and index are most likely different lengths, while the women have about equal length index and ring fingers are the same. Gay men will have equal lengths and lesbian women will have different. I'm not making this up, it's changed by the amount of testosterone you were exposed to in the womb. Manly men have long ring fingers and short index, and feminine women have equal lengths.  
**__**Gamemaster-"huh, I never noticed that."  
**__**um, G, you don't have fingers.  
**__**Spike-"I do!"  
**__**Lyra-"hands? Oh my gosh a human!"  
**__**ugh, it was only a matter of time, hello.  
**__**Lyra-"ha! They all said I was crazy!"  
**__**okay, Lyra, listen, I'm trying to open a chapter here.  
**__**Lyra-"can I see your hands?"  
**__**ugh, fine.  
**__**Lyra-"they're beautiful"  
**__**ugh, Lyra leave, or else.  
**__**Lyra-"never! Ha!"  
**__**hey Lyra.  
**__**Lyra-"what?"  
**__**plush.  
**__**Lyra-"oh god no! don't bring that up!"  
**__**and there she goes.  
**__**Twilight-"really?"  
**__**yes, she wouldn't leave. So anyways chapter time! Wait, Rarity, what's that? You are not cutting my hair! I like it the way it is!**_

""hello Children." Gamemaster walked up to the treehouse that the Cutie-mark-crusaders had their meetings in.  
"HI!" all three of them laughed and danced around "I told you he would come!"  
"alright, so what's this special meeting about?" Gamemaster crouched through the door with the fillies following him.  
"well" Scootaloo started "we got Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Applejack to tell us how they got their cutie-marks, we want to know how you got yours!"  
"yeah! If we find out how other ponies got their cutie-marks, then we might be able to figure out how to get ours!" Sweetie-belle continued  
"ahn when we git ours, then we kin tell other ponies how we got 'em!" Applebloom finished grinning  
"well, that sounds like a decent idea. Alright, I'll tell you the story. Now I grew up getting mine last, as you know, but I like to think mine is the most interesting. You all know what video games are right, that's a thing here?"  
"yeah, I love playing them, but mom won't let me play a lot of them."  
"well that's okay, you'll get older, she's looking out for you. So when I was a colt there was a popular game called Tetris, and I got really good at it. I got nine hundred ninety nine points, the most that I could, and then I decided I would make a game. so what I did was, in my spare time, I made a bunch of blocks shaped like the ones in the game, and a huge board. And the idea was to try to build as big of a stack as possible while somepony else tried to knock it over. It became the most popular game on the playground, and I wasn't made fun of as much, so I made more, I even made a _pachinko_ machine and I would give away little prizes, like candies, to anypony who got the highest score for the day. Soon enough I had created a dozen different games, I made them the entire year, until I re-made my old Tetris game. And I made better than before, and when I finished, I saw a glowing light, and there was my cutie-mark, a piece from the game I made." he smiled, and slapped his cutie-mark. "and that's how I did it, by doing what I loved to do." he pulled out a board and blocks. "and here it is, well, a version I remade, the cutie-mark giving game, Sirtet."  
"um, that's just Tetris backwards." Scootaloo was trying to figure out how the parts worked.  
"oh, here." he pulled out an instruction booklet. "I had Twilight help me write it, not the best at writing in Equestrian." he left, but not before watching three little fillies laughing with joy at his creation.

"hey G, wazzup?" Rainbow dash flew into the cave, where Gamemaster was cleaning before Diamond came home.  
"oh, hello Dash-San." Gamemaster gestured to the sandals, which Rainbow put on.  
"what's with the Sand stuff? just call me Rainbowdash." Rainbowdash went over to Gamemaster's storage and pulled out a rubber ball and began bouncing it off the wall while she talked.  
"alright Rainbowdash." Gamemaster put a pot of water over a fire.  
"what's that?"  
"oh, ramen noodles. I'm going to put in some wild chicken into it when the water heats up, and some vegetables, along with some spices."  
"woah, chicken? Like to eat?" Rainbowdash looked at him, and the ball bounced unto her head.  
"yes." Gamemaster was a bit confused.  
"don't you think the chickens have feelings?" Rainbowdash picked up the ball and held it.  
"plenty of other animals eat meat, it is a part of the cycle of life." Gamemaster took the meat out of a cooler.  
"well, yeah, but we're not just animals man! We shouldn't things 'cause we want to!" Rainbow was astonished at how he could put this off so easily.  
"perhaps, but if it makes you feel any better I thanked the chicken"  
"only a bit."  
"Rainbow dash, if I could. You have your ways, and I have mine. I will not push you to eat meat, but you must not push me to not." Gamemaster looked her in the eye.  
"hm. You know, can I stay for dinner? You drive a fine point. That and if you're not going to try to force me, then I can at least try it, right?"  
"of course you can stay. And I thank you for not attacking me."  
"ah, that's cool." Rainbow dash reached over to grab some meat.  
"no! You need to cook it! There could be illnesses on it, and I need to cook it so you don't get sick!"  
"oh, okay."  
Rainbow dash took her hoof back, and went back to bouncing the ball.

"I'm home!" Diamond put her pack next to her door, and put on shoes.  
"hello Diamond, how was school?" Gamemaster put her pack on a hook.  
"fine, what's Rainbowdash doing here?" Diamond gave the rainbow pegasus a quizzical look.  
"oh, she's staying for dinner." he took the pot off the fire and put it in the center of a few bowls, two having a fork and spoon next to them.  
"what is it?" Diamond peered into the pot.  
"careful, it's hot! It's chicken ramen." he put some soup into each bowl.  
"okay thank you chicken." she started blowing on her soup.  
"so she thanks the animal too?" asked Rainbowdash, stirring it.  
"yes, I believe that you need to thank the animal, and you only kill it if you are going to eat, not like some ponies who would do it for sport." he pulled out his chopsticks and scowled.  
"alright." Rainbowdash took a bite of soup. "oh, gosh! You weren't kidding when you said this was hot!" she flapped on her soup.  
"yes, of course." he made a large butterfly AB to cool off Diamond's soup.  
"thanks." she took a bite. "mmm, yummy."  
rainbow took a not burning hot bite. "yeah, this is pretty good." she continued eating  
"yes, the meat is high in fats and proteins, it helps build muscles and makes you not feel you need to eat as much," he started eating, his chopsticks heating up from the soup.  
"cool." Rainbow dash ate her bowl, and eyed the pot.  
"go ahead, I paid about eight bits for everything. Cheapest meal in Equestria." he took a bite.  
"alright!" she took another bowl, and slurped a huge pile of noodles meat and veggies.  
"thank you." Gamemaster nodded to Rainbowdash.  
"huh?" Rainbowdash had a few noodles hanging out of her mouth, which she slurped up.  
"in Neighpan it is considered a compliment to the chef to slurp, it means you like it enough you can't wait to get it in your mouth." he took another bite. "but Diamond, that's Neighpanese etiquette, not Equestrian, I expect you to be Equestrian polite outside the cave."  
"alright" she took a huge bite. "can you teach me how to use chopsticks?"  
"yeah, sure." he pulled out a pair of wooden chopsticks. "here, place the sticks in your hooves like so." he placed in her hooves, with the sticks entering a few grooves. "now flex your hoof." soon her chopsticks came together with a click. "haha, I did it!" she clicked them a few more times.  
"good job!'" he took a bite of soup. "now try getting some noodles." Diamond got a bundle of noodles, and most of it fell off. "you'll get it, remember I've had twenty six years of practice." he took a bite, some of the noodles fell off.  
"heh, looks like even you still don't have it down." chuckled Rainbowdash.  
"would you like to try?" Gamemaster passed her a pair of chopsticks.  
"easy!" she got the first part down, then she reached down to her soup, and all of the noodles fell off. Only one small piece of vegetable staying, and when Rainbow tried to take that to her mouth, that fell too. "oh come on!" Rainbow cried out, while Diamond took another bite with her chopsticks.  
"I suppose I'm just better than you." said Diamond, smirking  
"no! Listen, you will not tell Applejack, please?" Rainbowdash gave her best attempt at puppy-dog-eyes, which wasn't the best.  
"we won't, right Dad?" chuckled Diamond.  
"no, we won't tell Apple-San, Twilight's hearing about this, can't speak for her, but I won't tell Applejack." Gamemaster laughed.  
"alright." Rainbowdash went back to using her "normal" silverware, and they finished off the pot, of soup you crazy stoner, and Diamond helped clean up. "well, I got to go, I promised Scoots I would help her learn how to fly, though she's getting closer."  
"can I come with you?" Diamond looked at the rainbow pony.  
"yeah sure, you wanna help cheer on Scoots?" Rainbowdash patted her on the head.  
"yeah, I want to show here that I want to be nice, she doesn't like me as much." Diamond looked at the ground.  
"go, I need to start making some of the games, I can't sell one of a game you know." Gamemaster chuckled and started putting together pieces with AB helping.  
"alright, come on little gem." he put Diamond on his shoulders and flew to the rendezvous.

"hey there Rainbowdash!" Scootaloo ran over to her hero, her smile growing wider by the millisecond. "wait, what's she doing here?" she stopped in her tracks, her smile fading.  
"well, she wanted to be here to help cheer you on." Rainbowdash smiled.  
"right, she's probably here to make fun of me." Scootaloo scowled at her.  
"no! I'm not! Come on! Why won't you at least give me the opportunity to redeem myself?" Diamond snapped.  
"maybe it's because of the thing with the no flying during the Equestria games flag carriers try-outs." Scootaloo said, eyeing her  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mode fun of you it's because of how jealous I was, you guys did amazing, and especially you." Diamond croaked out.  
"wait, you? were jealous? of us? of ME!?" Scootaloo was amazed that this stuck up princess was jealous of anything, much less flightless her.  
"yes, I wish I could even do your gliding thing, or zip around on a scooter like you do." Diamond looked down.  
"alright, I'll let you cheer." Scootaloo was still not sure of how much she could trust the gemstone crown, there was the Twilight time incident.  
"thank you!" Diamond pulled some grass to make pom-poms, "you can do it! You're the missus! You the best of pegasus'!" she called out, getting a glace from Silverspoon, who was walking down the road.  
"what are you doing? I haven't seen you outside of school recently." Silverspoon walked up to the flight session looking quizzically at Diamond Tiara.  
"oh, hi Silverspoon, I'm cheering Scootaloo on, she learning to fly. Go Scoots yay!" she shook her grass pom-poms.  
"wow, I never thought I'd see you cheering for Scootaloo." Silverspoon grinned. "I told you that you should try to help."  
"yeah, Dad taught me that." Diamond blushed.  
"Mr. Rich taught you that? Wow." Silverspoon was astonished.  
"oh, um, no. Filthy was arrested for um, what did they call it, neglect. I was adopted by G."  
"the Everfree pony?" Silverspoon was amazed.  
"yeah, and you know what? He even said that he wouldn't adopt me unless I said I wanted him to." Diamond grinned "you can do it Scootaloo! You're gonna be an even better flier than Rainbow!"  
"unlikely, but thanks!" called out Scootaloo as she actually started hover a few inches above the ground.  
"so, what's it like living with him?" asked Silverspoon, wondering if she ever had to eat worms 'ew, yuck'  
"well, he lives in a cave, well we do. And the first night I slept on the ground."  
"oh, no wonder you were so tired the day after he came to talk to us." Silverspoon nodded.  
"yeah, but then he made me a bed. You wouldn't believe what he can do with his magic though!"  
"what?" Silverspoon leaned in.  
"he calls them AB, but he can make a fake ANYTHING! He can make a fake pony, parasprite, even things that don't actually exist! And they run on their own, he can make them and then do nothing with them!"  
"where does the magic come from to keep them going?"  
"he makes them eat magic from the air!"  
"wow!" Silverspoon was amazed.  
"and the best part is, he figured out how to use almost no magic to make them. But he doesn't make them clean, he makes me do a lot of cleaning." Diamond smiled. "go Scootaloo! Yeah!"  
"why would he make you clean?" Silverspoon was amazed.  
"he says it's so I can build character and learn responsibility and maturity." she rolled her eyes.  
"yeah, of course. Dad has actually made me start making my own bed, ugh, what a drag!" Silverspoon groaned an also rolled her eyes. Before they both started laughing.  
"look Rainbowdash!" Scootaloo was flying! Not very high but she was flying!  
"great job squirt!" Rainbow high-hooved her.  
"yeah, good job chicken girl!" called out Silverspoon.  
"Silver!" Diamond was astonished. "what was that for?"  
"what? You didn't think it was funny? Backaw!" she giggled.  
"no! You should have seen Dad when I went to the library instead of Sugarcube corner! He was crying! He sat on a couch in the library all night after that just mumbling to himself! And he woke up sweating! That is cruel to try to hurt Scootaloo because' it's funny'!" Diamond was amazed, Silverspoon never made fun of the cutie-mark-crusaders until she did, why would she attack Scootaloo?  
"ah, whatever, that's one insane everpony" Silver laughed.  
"hey, Silver, you can leave." Rainbowdash flew up to her without her constant cocky grin.  
"fine, see ya chicken!" Silver called out. Diamond swiped at her, barely missing.  
"sorry Scootaloo, I didn't think she'd make fun of you." Diamond said, looking at the ground.  
"why should you apologize? She made fun of me, not you. And you stood up for me! You even tried to slap her! I think you've earned at least a little trust." Scootaloo grinned and held her hoof up for a bro-hoof, Which Diamond accepted.  
"well, thank you Diamond, I'll take you home, you want to fly with us Scoots?" Rainbow's grin was back.  
"yeah!" Scootaloo started buzzing her wings, flying a few feet above the ground. And they started flying, not as fast as Rainbow would like, but still, Scoots was flying, so she let it go.

Soon they arrived back at the cave, Scootaloo got exhausted halfway, and so Rainbowdash carried both of them.  
"G! G! I did it I flew!" Scootaloo ran in.  
"good job!" he handed Scootaloo a wood medal, that was engraved with "Jr. flier."  
"omygoshomygoshomygoshomygoshomygoshomygoshomygoshomygoshomygoshomygosh!" Scootaloo was really just like Rainbow.  
"Diamond, you look less happy then you should be, what's wrong?" Gamemaster looked concerned.  
"um, I ran into Silverspoon while I was there."  
"and..." Gamemaster looked at her.  
"she started making fun of Scootaloo, but I made her stop, and she called you an 'insane everpony.'  
"yeah, sometimes when you change and others don't you'll separate. I'm very proud of you for sticking for Scootaloo-Chan." he grinned "you know, we never did stop at the Corner, and the Cakes mentioned that they don't have any games to play with the twins." he picked up a few games from a stack, all family games. "we might be able to come to an agreement. Scootaloo-Chan, would you and Rainbowdash like to come with?" he placed a few games in his saddle-bag.  
"yeah, can we Rainbowdash?" Scootaloo was so exited she started hovering.  
"yep." Rainbow grinned, and she started flying "wanna race?"  
"you bet!" the pegasai dashed off, Scootaloo not as fast as Rainbow, but that was to be expected.  
"shall we go?" Gamemaster lifted Diamond onto his shoulders  
"yep!" she started whistling.

"hey there!" Mr. Cake was frosting a cake for a customer, who was standing nearby waiting.  
"hello, I remember you saying you needed games for the kids?" Gamemaster pulled out his games. "I came to see if we could come to an agreement. Four games, four doughnuts?"  
"yeah, of course!" Mr. Cake looked at Scootaloo and Diamond. "what do you two want?" he put on gloves, health codes and all.  
"raspberry-chocolate!" they both called out.  
"well, miss Dash?"  
"frosted."  
"G?"  
"do you have cream?"  
"yep, here or to go?"  
"here."  
"alright, here ya are!" he placed a tray with four good-sized donuts on it.  
"thank you." the four ponies sat nearby and munched on the treats.  
"so Scootaloo-Chan, how does it feel to fly?" asked G, taking a nibble of his doughnut  
"it's amazing! I know why Rainbowdash likes it so much!" Scootaloo took a bite of her doughnut, eating a fourth in one go.  
"hey squirt, don't eat it too fast." Rainbowdash chuckled out, taking a bite of her own.  
"it must be fun." Diamond ate some of her doughnut, not quite as happy looking as before.  
"hey, what's wrong my shining Diamond?" Gamemaster put his pastry down.  
"well, you have magic, and they have wings. I don't either of those things." she explained, a bit dejectedly.  
"well, that's just because you don't need a horn of wings to be as cool as us, You're that cool without them."  
"yeah, but what makes me cool?" Diamond was feeling a bit dejected still.  
"look at me, you are a beautiful filly, and you are strong. Both in will and in muscles. You already knew how to be powerful, now you've learned to be tender. You are a strong earth-pony, and you will be be an amazing mare." Gamemaster smiled.  
"yeah, just look at Pinkie and Applejack, they're earth-ponies, and applejack is almost as fast as me." Rainbowdash said, flapping her wings.  
"and don't forget, no-pony can tell you that you aren't as good because you don't have wings or a horn. Look at the cakes, they're amazing too, and they're earth-ponies." Mrs. Cake waved at them hearing her name.  
"alright, you're right. Thanks." she took another bite out of her doughnut.  
"well, it's getting late, finish that, and then you need your sleep my little pony." he smiled.  
"thanks for the deal G!" called out Mr. Cake.  
"tell Pie-San I said hello!" called out Gamemaster as he left.

"alright, are you comfy?" Gamemaster asked after tucking the filly.  
"yeah, thanks." Diamond snuggled into her sheets.  
"alright, good night my shining Diamond, may you never become dull." he tousled her mane, and went to his section of the ground. 'Twilight Sparkle, if only I could work up the nerve to talk to you.' Gamemaster though to himself , not knowing that in the library Twilight was thinking the same thing. Well, she said Gamemaster, but you understand.

_**And that's a chapter done, and I managed to stay away from Rarity while I did it!  
**__**Rarity-"not for much longer!"  
**__**ah! run!  
**__**Twilight-"okay, Rarity, I think this counts as harassment now."  
**__**yes! Listen to Twilight!  
**__**Rarity-"no! You need a mane-cut!"  
**__**one, it's a hair-cut, I'm not a pony, two NO!  
**__**Pinkie-"this is really fun!"  
**__**Pinkie! Stop sitting around and help me!  
**__**Discord-"oh, joy, anypony want popcorn? I bet thirteen bits that David will keep away."  
**__**really!? You're betting on me Discord!?  
**__**Discord-"well, at least I'm betting on you, doesn't that count for something?"  
**__**not really, can you at least like, put me somewhere she can't reach me so I don't get fashion mauled while I finish the chapter?  
**__**Discord-"hmm, alright."  
**__**ugh, thank you Discord. So anyway, please leave a review, I have over 300 views, I should have a least a hundred reviews, honestly, I love criticism, how else will I get better? Just don't call me an asshole k? And if you liked if, follow and favorite, and of course, don't forget to give someone a smile today :) this is the only time I use emoticons, so yeah, you guys are special. Oh yeah, I don't own the songs twelve days of Christmas, I'm pretty sure that no-one would sue me, but I might as well be safe. I can't afford being sued.**_


	7. Discord

_**Hello guys, how are you all doing? Twily, is Rarity here?  
**__**Twilight-"nope, you're safe. And only shining armor and my friends can call me Twily."  
**__**oh, sorry.  
**__**Twilight-"no problem."  
**__**thanks, so I'm safe, good.  
**__**Discord-"aw, she was getting so entertaining."  
**__**hey Discord, can I have some of that popcorn?  
**__**Discord-"hmmm, well, what do I get in return?"  
**__**a chapter?  
**__**Discord-"deal!"  
**__**mmm, popcorn. Alright, this is your chapter Discord. Pleasure doing business with you.  
**__**Discord-"oh, pleasure."**_

"oh, hello Gamemaster, how are you?" Discord was floating around the building, juggling chess pieces.  
"hello, you are Discord-San, correct? might I ask why Twilight distrusts you?" Gamemaster was looking through the paper and drinking tea.  
"oh, well, let's just say I wasn't always so, tame." Discord shrugged, and put down the chess pieces.  
"ah, I see." Gamemaster finished off his tea and put the paper away. "so what are you doing here?"  
"ah, see, I figured you might enjoy some company, that's all." Discord started playing with a Jacob's ladder. "oh, I'm so glad you have this, they are so much fun!" he watched as the ladder seemed to fall infinitely.  
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. But really I need to continue with work, so if you could keep out of my way." Gamemaster placed a stack of chesk games on a shelf.  
"oh, of course, I'll keep out of your way." Discord made himself intangible, and continued talking. "well, I must say that if we talk more often, you may become my second favorite pony, beaten by Fluttershy of course." he got himself a glass of chocolate milk with magic and drank the milk itself this time.  
"ah, yes, what is Shy-San like?" Gamemaster had never really talked to Fluttershy before.  
"oh, she is so sweet, but like all ponies she has a serious side. She's learned so much since she reformed me. Like with the breezies, Such cute little things." Discord was lounging on a hammock.  
"I see, so what do you do?" Gamemaster took the Jacob's ladder Discord had been playing with and put with the others.  
"oh me? Nothing really. I'm a free spirit, a spirit of chaos, though Celestia wants me to keep chaos to a minimum, but what she doesn't know can't hurt her." he started bouncing on a trampoline of his own creation. "so I just run around, or fly, sometimes I teleport. And I go to tea with Fluttershy, and enjoy myself. I can make my own food, so why should I worry?" he made himself a sandwich. "would you like one?" he gave Gamemaster a sandwich.  
"thank you." Gamemaster took a bite of the sandwich, and immediately regretted it, because it was full of sand. "pttth!" he spit out the sand.  
"oh, didn't I say it was a **sand**wich?"Discord laughed loudly and wiped his face with a lacy kerchief.  
"I think I see why Twilight dis-trusts you now." Gamemaster rinsed out his mouth.  
"oh, goodness you're hilarious!" Discord doubled over. "you are going to be fun!" Discord floated in circle. "I think I'll hang out with you today, maybe we can play a game." he turned his face into the SAW mask."I want to play a game, Game."he turned his face back and giggled.  
"oh, wonderful, today is going to be fun." Gamemaster shook his head in defeat.

"um, Dad, why's Discord following you?" Diamond was being picked up from school, and a few foals were scared of the strange beast following the Everfree pony.  
"oh, it's a long story." Gamemaster looked at Diamond.  
"oh, well it's a long walk back to the shop, let's explain it to her while we walk. Or, well, you walk, I'm flying, unless the little one want a ride?" Discord picked up Diamond and put her on his back, a seat-belt coming out of no-where and holding her in place, and Discord began flying everywhere.  
"aagh! Dad! Help! What's happening!" Diamond was terrified, and was flailing her hooves everywhere.  
"put her down Discord-Kun." he glared at the draqonequus with the ferocity of a thousand cockatrice.  
"oh, um, alright." he put Diamond down at gave her a pat on the head.  
"um, Dad, what's -Kun mean?" Diamond looked up at him.  
"oh, it means you are talking to an inferior." Gamemaster glared at Discord again.  
"oh, okay." Diamond left the two men aclone and started to run a bit ahead and run back.  
"inferior?" Discord looked at Gamemaster like he was hurt, but not really, that cartoon look.  
"listen, I'll deal with you following me around, but you will NOT mess with Diamond." Gamemaster was very unstable and protective of Diamond after her disappearance.  
"ah, of course." Diamond ran up to them.  
"hey! Did you see how fast I went that time!?" she bounced a few times.  
"yeah, you are going really fast!" Gamemaster smiled at her, and Diamond smiled back.  
"ah, kids. You know, I actually had a daughter once." Discord looked at the sky.

"wait, you? I though you said you were a free-spirit?" Gamemaster was confused.  
"ah, yes, well, before I ruled Equestria with a chaotic fist I ruled another place. It was a smaller island, about the size of Canterlot, there was about a hundred of us, each looking drastically different. I remember my wife, my wonderful chieftess. She had the head of a buffalo and the tail of a pony, she looked amazing. And then she gave birth, and my little bundle of chaos was in the world. Oh yes, I suppose I should tell him about that, but in a bit. She was my little Chord, she was an amazing singer. If she was a pony her cutie-mark would have been musical, I'm sure. So we lived there for a few year after, well decades, but I was already old enough it felt like years. Anyway then Tirek attacked our little tribe. We were the only draqonequus left in this world, and he took all their Magic and killed them. And so, I held him down and I took all the souls of my people back. And they're all still in here" he tapped his head. "and they're wondering what's happened, my little chord is still singing though." he began humming to the tune of some unknown song.  
"what's that you're humming?" Gamemaster wondered "oh this? it's he anthem of our tribe. She loved that song." Gamemaster noticed that the mighty, near-omnipotent Discord was crying, and he handed the last draqonequus a tissue.  
"oh thank you." Discord loudly blew his nose. "I feel much better. So after that I took over Equestria and a few hundred years after that princess moon-butt and princess sun-butt trapped me in stone." he giggled at the celestial princess' new nick-names. "you know, for a while they even loved me. They were part of a council, and all three of us ruled, then, well, I don't know what happened really, maybe I got a bit of Tirek when I took back my people, but I lost my memory there, I just know that I was angry, really angry. And that I wanted someone, anyone to pay for it. And then when Tirek came back, I think he had some kind of hold from the bit of him inside, it's still in there. I can feel it." Discord shuddered. "but that's enough serious things, let's race!" he began to race Diamond to the shop, which they were almost at.

"well, you beat me little one." Discord faked like he was out of breath.  
"yeah! Did you see that Dad? I beat him!" Diamond was pinkie-bouncing all over.  
"yeah, great job! But could you not jump around inside?" Gamemaster barely caught a glass snow-globe that was on his desk.  
"oh, right, sorry." Diamond stopped jumping.  
"alright." Gamemaster smiled.  
"well, I must say your daughter is very obedient, Chord was never this pleasant." Discord grinned, and began humming again.  
"yeah, well that's because if I'm not good, then Dad punishes me. I don't like being in the corner. And he always asks me what I did before I can get up, so I always have to face what I did." Diamond looked down. "But when I'm good he gives me hugs! And sometimes candy!" she hopped up.  
"well, I must say, you make a decent parent." Discord grinned, before he went to the upper floor and went to nap.  
"hey Dad, why was Discord following you?" she finally asked.  
"I don't know, but apparently Shy-San reformed him." he shrugged.  
"you mean Fluttershy?" Diamond took a ball and began dribbling it.  
"yeah, her. should we go to the library to check out a new bed-time story though?" both Diamond and he knew he also wanted to see Twilight.  
"yeah sure."  
"put on a scarf, it pretty cold out." Gamemaster put of a scarf.  
"alright." Diamond put on a scarf, and they left for the library, Discord soon following.

"hey there you two, here for another book?" Twilight put their old story book away.  
"yeah, ohh, Dad, can we start reading Daring Do?" Diamond asked enthusiastically.  
"aright, do you have the first book here?" Gamemaster asked Twilight.  
"yeah, here." Twilight took out the first Daring Do book, Griffon's Goblet.  
"oh, yes, do have a book on ancient and mythological cultures?"  
"yeah, right over here Discord, here you go. Wait DISCORD!?" she looked up at him.  
"what? I can't read now? Discord gave her puppy-dog eyes, but they looked more like Cerberus-eyes.  
"no, you can. I'm just surprised, you''re not going to eat this, are you?" she glared at him suspiciously.  
"hey, that was one time! And I gave them back." he looked at her, mock-offended.  
"fine, what do **you** of all ponies want with it?"  
"my, my, you are so insensitive, I for one am not a pony, would you call David a pony?"  
"what?" Twilight looked confused.  
"ah, yes, fourth-wall, I'm not supposed to know that's there. But anyways, I just want to do some research. You of all ponies understand that, don't you?" he gave her a hopeful look.  
"yeah, I suppose. But I want it back in one, non-eaten piece. And no snakes in it this time!"  
"oh, don't worry, what fun is there in doing the same thing twice?" he giggled like a school girl, and opened the book.  
"well, we need to go for dinner, and then bed. We'll see you later Twilight." Gamemaster bowed, and Twilight bowed back.  
"of course, growing fillies need their sleep after all." she smiled and opened the door for them, trying to leave a good impression on Gamemaster. And they left, Gamemaster admiring Twilight's mane as they left.

"oh my, I saw how you looked at her, does somepony have a crush?" Discord floated around them.  
"yes, but, don't tell Twilight, please? I, I want to tell her myself, once I bring up the nerve." he shuffled his hooves.  
"ah, yes, of course. Well, I need to head to Fluttershy's for supper, promise I would, I'll see you later." he flew off to her cottage.  
"alright, so Dad, what are having for dinner tonight?" Diamond looked up at him.  
"oh, we're having salad and apples, fresh from Apple-San." he pulled the produce out of the crags in the cave.  
"okay." they ate without without much incident, and Gamemaster tucked her into bed.  
"sleep well my shining diamond." he kissed the to of her head. "may you never become dull." he went to his sleep spot, and went to sleep.

"hello Gamemaster." Luna floated up to the dreaming pony.  
" ah, princess." he bowed.  
"oh really, you don't have to be so formal, just Luna will do. We are both ponies who are trying to learn this new culture." she smiled.  
"ah okay. So what are you doing here?" Gamemaster was playing a game of _igo_ with an AB in his dream, he always had lucid dreams.  
"I just thought I'd check up on you, maybe we could play a game, do you know chess?" she made a chess set using her dream powers.  
"ah, yes, I know how to play that game." he sat down, and they began playing.  
"so how have you been doing taking care of Diamond?" Luna moved a piece.  
"oh, she's been doing well. She getting an independent stage of growing up though." he looked at the board.  
"ah, alright, I understand, I went through the same things, Tia hated it." she giggled "I remember once I refused to eat anything I didn't make myself." she watched the board.  
"ah yes, um, do you remember Discord-San?" he moved his piece.  
"ah, yes Discord. He was interesting, his rule was, chaotic to say the least." she moved a piece, and took a pawn  
"he said you three all ruled side-by-side for a while." he moved.  
"ah, yes, those days were peaceful. Though sometimes he would interrupt himself, as if something else was talking." she moved her piece.  
"he said he ruled a few hundred others of his kind before he came to Equestria, and that Tirek invaded." he took her rook.  
"ah, that could make sense. He did seem a bit, hmm, angry when he came."she looked at the board, looking for a move.  
"he said he was married and had a daughter, and they were killed by Tirek." he he spun a killed piece.  
"ah, yes, that might make sense. He would hum and say it was his daughter, singing through him." she moved.  
"who is Tirek, might I ask?" Gamemaster took her bishop.  
"oh, he is a centaur, and he takes the energy, magic and soul of other beings to power himself. He invaded a few months ago." she shuddered remembering what it was like to be drained.  
"ah, Discord-San said he actually took his people's souls back, and accidentally took a bit of Tirek in the process." Gamemaster moved.  
"ah, yes, that would explain him interrupting himself." she took his knight.  
"well, what was it like, ruling next to him?" he moved.  
"well, he would play tricks on us, but when it was time to rule, he was dead serious. Though I suppose it makes sense, seeing as he wouldn't want the same thing as before happening to this place."she moved.  
"yes, I suppose. What was it like growing up as a princess?" he too her other rook.  
"ah, well, I always had to be proper, I feel like I wasn't able to really be a kid growing up in the castle." she took his rook.  
"ah, yes, I can see where you would get that. I only wanted to play games,but Father would make me spar, he said I needed to know how to defend myself from an assassin." he moved his bishop.  
"ah, yes, that's right, you were the son of a, what did you call it? Shogun?" she moved.  
"yes, we would often be at war among different, states I guess would be your equivalent?" he took her queen.  
"ah, I see." she took his queen.  
"yes, though I never wanted to rule, I didn't even want to be important or special, I just wanted to be a normal colt. I wanted to be the son of a rice farmer, or a fisher, and get a rice cutie-mark, and live a simple life. I didn't like being special." he moved another piece."check."  
"yeah, I often wanted to be the daughter of an apple farmer, like Applejack, though I didn't use the name Applejack, in my head my apple farmer name was Applebuck."she moved a piece. "check."  
"hm, yeah, I can see you as an earthpony, bucking apples."he moved his king.  
"and I can see you, irrigating a rice-field with magic." she moved a piece.  
"yes, I suppose we both had an odd childhood huh? You grew up on a council with your sister and a, thing, until you were on the moon. And I grew up learning to fight, until I was in the forest." he moved a piece. "checkmate." Luna looked at the board.  
"well, you win. Good job." she cleaned up the board, and by cleaned up I mean she made if go poof.  
"well, it's almost day, I need to lower the moon, and you have a filly to take to school." she flew off.  
"good-bye princess moon-butt!" he called out, face-hoofing when he realized what he said.  
"you need to stop hanging around Discord!" she called down, laughing.

" good morning my shining Diamond. Did you sleep well?" Gamemaster took some fried tofu and gave it to her, and put a lunch in her bag.  
"yeah, I slept well, how about you?" she munched on the tofu.  
"oh, I beat a princess in a game of chess." he put her saddle-bags on.  
"a princess!? You mean Princess Luna!?" Diamond gasped, spraying tofu onto the ground.  
"yes, she visited my dream, and we played and talked." he cleaned up the tofu.  
"wow, okay, Wow." Diamond was amazed.  
"you need to head to school, and I have shelves to stock, so let's get going." he put the last of the games on his back, and walked out with her.  
"alright." and they walked off, ready to face another day, made easier without a certain pesky, insane foreigner getting in their way.  
"HEY! I'M NOT PESKY!"

_**well, I hope you all enjoyed this Discord chapter, and I'll enjoy this popcorn.  
**__**Twilight-"I wouldn't trust him."  
**__**oh, calm down Twilight. I'm fi OW! IT EXPLODED IN MY MOUTH!  
**__**Discord-"well, it is POPcorn after all. Hohohohohoh!hahah!hee."  
**__**really Discord? Really?  
**__**Twilight-"I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so."  
**__**oh quiet you. Alright, in case you couldn't tell by the fact he's stocking the last of the games, G is opening the shop next chapter, and I only have one suggestion for a shop name. Come on guys, give me something to work with here! Even if you think it's stupid and crazy, I love crazy, so I might pick it. So give me a suggestion, and you get to be part of the story!  
**__**Gamemaster-"yes, please, I'm drawing a blank, I only have one idea."  
**__**exactly, listen to him! And leave a suggestion.  
**__**Rarity-"oh, hello, how are you?"  
**__**oh god run for my life!  
**__**Rarity-"oh, no, I have a show today, I need to look my best, so no chasing today."  
**__**oh thank god.  
**__**Derpy-"hi!"  
**__**oh, hi Derpy, do you have some mail for me?"  
**__**Derpy-"yeah, here you go!"  
**__**thank you, let's see here. 'we're watching you.' okay Discord, did you really thin I'd fall for this?  
**__**Discord-"that wasn't me! I pinkie-swear!  
**__**Pinkiepie-"well you'd better not break it, because that the best way to lose a friend. FOREEEEVEEERRRRRRR!"  
**__**thank you pinkie, that was, um, inspirational? So anyways, please leave a review, and if you liked follow and favorite, and remember to give someone a smile today :)**_


	8. opening day

_**Hello there my amazingful people! Yes OpenOffice, I know amazingful isn't a word, I made it up.  
**__**Twilight-"amazingful?"  
**__**wonderful and amazing, what? I can't give them a nickname? Readers felt too impersonal.  
**__**Twilight-"okay?"  
**__**yes, okay. So now then, welcome to the next chapter! I hope you've all enjoyed the story, and that more of you will contribute, I want this to be a story that has you guys telling me a lot of stuff, so that it's not just my story, but OUR story. Cheesy, I know, but still, I like it.  
**__**Cheese sandwich-"cheesy? Did you call for me?"  
**__**ugh, no Cheese sandwich, I did not. Though I was wondering if you ever wanted to show up in the story.  
**__**Cheese sandwich-"maybe in the future, I have a party to get to."  
**__**okay, see ya.  
**__**Pinkiepie-"ooh I heard cheese sandwich! Where is he?"  
**__**just missed him Pinkie.  
**__**Pinkiepie-"nooooo!"  
**__**um, dramatic much?  
**__**Spike-"ugh, you should see applejack when apple bucking season starts up, now THAT'S drama.  
**__**Applejack-"hey! Ah am not dr'matic!"  
**__**um, a bit dramatic right there, so, before I forget, thank you Vulcan2312 for submitting the winner for G's shop name, which you will see in a bit, when he opens the store. So with that, enjoy!**_

"howdy there G, whatt'r ya doin'?" Applejack walked up to the unicorn, painting on the front of the store, with Twilight helping him with spelling.  
"oh, hello Apple-San, Twilight is helping me write the name of the store on the front." he carefully painted an A unto it.  
"alright, now you want one that looks like this." she made an S with magic for Gamemaster to copy.  
"well, a'right, by tah way G, you dun need to call me Apple-Son, just call me Applejack, tha's mah name after all." she grinned, and waved as she went to follow Applebloom to the apple stall.  
"alright, Applejack." he cleaned off a mistake he made, and tried again.  
"there we go, you're getting it. You'll learn how to write Equestrian soon enough." Twilight smiled at him, watching him carefully, as if she was never going to see him again.  
'now why in tarnation is she examinin' him like that?' Applejack thought to herself as she left.

"welcome friends. To the official opening of the first game and toy shop in Pony-ville." Twilight said, Celestia said she should practice public speaking, she figured this would a good start.  
"really Twilight, we don't need a fancy ceremony." Gamemaster didn't like the attention, and he didn't want to be considered special, or proud.  
"oh, calm down, just look how many ponies came? Even Discord." she gestured to the crowd. "now, I would like to thank all of you for being here, and I would also like to thank Applejack for supplying wood for repairs, and anypony else who helped fix this up. Now, Gamemaster, would you like to say anything?" she stepped out of the way, and everypony went silent, and you could hear his hoofsteps as he walked up.  
"um, as Sparkle-Sama said." he mentally kicked himself for saying Sparkle-Sama again. "thank you all for being here." all the ponies clapped. "um, I would like to say, that none of this would be here without you, and especially Twilight, if she hadn't almost forced me to stay, I'd be back in the forest." a few of them laughed. And Gamemaster was calming down. "and, as Twilight said, thank you Applejack for supplying repair materials. And now, let the gaming begin!" he made a hydra AB, which grabbed the veil covering the name, and, with a flourish, you could see the name, written in a bright green, contrasting the blue building. "Gamemaster game blaster." all the ponies cheered. "and, to thank all of you here, all purchases come with a free Jacob's ladder." he grinned at Discord, who knew why he said that. All the ponies cheered, and Gamemaster had a busy day selling to easily a hundred ponies, he thought he even saw a few ponies who came from Manehatten visiting.

"goodness, I hope it's not this busy again." Gamemaster was tired, he never had a break the entire day.  
"well, you had some publicity already, most ponies hated Filthy, and you got him pretty good, so plenty of them came just for that." Twilight helped him put the hundreds of bits he had earned into a bag to take to the bank.  
"well, I think that this will work out okay." he looked around, there was mud all over the ground, and a few games that had fallen open, it was a mess. "if I can clean up. Diamond honey, would you bring me the mop?"  
"coming!" Diamond rushed in with a mop and a bucket.  
"thank you, would you mind picking up the games that fell over and opened?" he gestured to the easily a hundred pieces all over.  
"what do you want me to do with them?" Diamond started picking them up.  
"put them in that barrel, I'll sell the as individual replacement parts for a bit each." he painted "1 bit" on the side. "did I write that right?" he looked at twilight, her mane gleaming in a ray of sun-light.  
"yeah, good job." she smiled, and noticed that he had some dirt of his forehead, and she went over and wiped it off, both feeling rather, awkward afterward.  
'oh, I wish I could tell them, but do they want me to?' Diamond thought while she picked up the pieces.  
"um, so, yeah." Twilight muttered.  
"yeah, um, so, yeah." Gamemaster started to mop up. "um, well, did you enjoy yourself today?" he asked, wringing out the mop into the bucket.  
"um, yes, I must say business must be hectic." Twilight started helping Diamond.  
"thanks." Diamond muttered, placing some dice in the barrel.  
"I think things will calm down after today, everypony got enough games to last them a few months." he finished moping and straitened the shelves and got an AB to begin bringing more games and such to restock.  
"um would you two like to visit for dinner after you finish?" she shuffled her hoof.  
"oh, can we?" Diamond jumped up.  
"yes, sure. I'll bring some tofu over." he finished cleaning and locked the door and began walking to the bank.  
"oh, I've never had that." Twilight walked next to him, and Diamond was hopping around them. Several ponies glanced at them, but said nothing.  
"why are ponies looking at us?" Twilight muttered.  
'it's because you two look like a couple! And you clearly like each-other, why don't you see it!' Diamond screamed in her head. Still not knowing whether to say something.  
"oh, hey G, I figured you would show up soon enough." the clerk was a pony that regularly came over to check on his progress. "I set up an account for you, how much did ya earn?" he opened up the chute to the underground safe, the only way in was through a door that was guarded by two unicorns, two pegasai, and two earth-ponies.  
"um, I think two hundred and three?" Gamemaster began counting them.  
"oh, wait, we have a counter." the clerk placed the bits into the chute, and the numbers went up on a dial. "yep, two hundred and three, good day huh?" he wrote down the numbers and handed him a checkbook. "you're going to want to make sure to keep a log there, we'll send you a statement with how much you have in your account once a month, and you can make sure the numbers add up, if they don't just come and talk to us." he smiled and waved as they left.

"um, this stuff is kinda bland." Twilight nibbled some tofu as she cooked, they were at the library and Twilight was working on dinner.  
"oh, yeah, you want to mix with a sauce, or into a dish, it will soak up flavors." he grinned, and continued reading to Diamond.  
"yeah, right." she started mixing it with marinade to put in salad, and she made steaks, Twilight eats meat, spike also does. "you guys okay with steak?" she called out.  
"yep, thanks cow!" Diamond called back.  
"thanks cow?" Twilight was confused.  
"we thank the animal for its meat before we eat, respect and all." Gamemaster called back.  
"ah, okay." she finished the meal and they all sat down, Spike having Ruby dust on his.  
"what's ruby taste like?" asked Gamemaster.  
"here, try one." Spike tossed him a ruby.  
"oh, wow, spicy!" Gamemaster crunched on it, and he felt his mouth light on fire! But he loved it.  
"pass some of that dust please." he said, Spike obliging, and he covered his steak in the spicy powder.  
"um, Dad, why did you eat a jewel?" Diamond stared at him.  
"Diamond it's not polite to stare. And they're high in minerals, that and they have distinct tastes, emeralds are mint and honey." explained Gamemaster.  
"rubies are spicy, and sapphires are sweet, and fruity. Oh, and pearls are chocolaty! And they're soft inside! And obsidian is bitter, it makes great coffee. Diamonds are interesting, they taste like water, but if you put it into a drink it cools it, and when you're done the diamond tastes like your juice, it's really cool." Spike took a bite of steak. "if you want I can give you my gem notes." he smiled and pulled out a piece of paper. "let's see, oh, and agate tastes meaty, and salty. It makes great steak seasoning!" he went to cupboard and pulled out a piece. "want some G?" he ground some up between his claws and passed the block to Gamemaster.  
"thanks." he ground it with magic, and took a bite of steak. "oh wow, that is really good." he grinned at Spike, and gave him back the agate.  
"okay, my life just became even weirder somehow, it's almost like someone is writing this and wants it to be as interesting as possible." Diamond muttered.

_**hey, stop looking at me! You're not supposed to know I'm here!**_

"huh, well, living with Spike you get used to Gem flavor rants." Twilight took a bite of salad.  
"what? I'm a dragon! This is just how I am!" Spike glared at Twilight, before munching on a pearl.  
"young dragon! Wait until after dinner for dessert!" she took the half he didn't finish and put it up.  
"aw." he looked down, before eating more dinner.  
"hey Twilight, can I tell him you know what?" Diamond asked.  
"oh, please no!" Twilight knew what she meant, but didn't want him to know, what if he laughed at her?  
"well, Diamond has school in morning, so we need to go soon." they finished their dinner, thanked Twilight and went home.  
"good night my shining Diamond, may you never become dull." he tucked her in and went to sleep.

"Dad! Wake up!" Diamond shook him awake from his dreams, and he got up groggily.  
"Dad! I made you food, but the shop opens in twenty minutes! I can get myself to school, but you need to go!" she shook him one more time for good measure before she went to school.  
"what? Shop? OH RIGHT!" He woke up, scarfed down the not-so-good tofu with peanuts and ran over to the shop.  
"phew, just in time." he had finished getting everything ready in just enough time to open.  
"well howdy there, looks like ahm just in taim." Applejack walked in.  
"hello Apple-Sa.. Applejack." he bowed to her.  
"hey there G, how was e'rythang yesterday?" she started looking around the shop.  
"hectic. Though I'm hoping that was an opening day thing." he started working on a device he had been thinking of making.  
"now what's that?" Applejack walked up to him, where he was putting together some copper plates and such.  
"oh, you know how I have my AB?"  
"yeah, ya never use 'em but yah have 'em." she shrugged.  
"I learned to do that so I could play game in the Everfree, so I figured I should try putting it into a videogame device you can carry, right now you only have the arcade cabinets, and this will help ponies to be be to play more games."  
"uuh." Applejack just looked confused.  
"it let's you play a game that has more stuff than I can put into a box, and can have a story." he simplified. "Twilight got it just fine."  
"oh, ah see, yah have a little play, and a game that work together." Applejack further simplified.  
"yes, I suppose that's one way to put it." he kept working on the spacing of plates. "the plates of copper magnify the magical energy so that it uses less." he put in a magic infused piece of tin. "and tin can store massive amounts of magic to use to run it. And you can take it to any unicorn to recharge, so anypony with a unicorn friend never runs out."he put the pieces together, it looked like a Gameboy with a microphone. "now then, let's test this out." he put a Tetris game cartridge into the slot, and powered it up, and it exploded.  
"well, ah suppose progress don't never happen immediately right?" Applejack smiled. "oh yeah, Applebloom was wantin' a new ball, somptin' about a buck-ball cutie-mark and their old one were busted." she showed him a ball. "how much?"  
"oh, please, free, you have been so helpful." Gamemaster pushed the ball towards her.  
"naw, I insist on payin' yah." she put a small pile of bits on the counter and pushed them toward him.  
"no, really, it's yours." he pushed the bits back to Applejack.  
"take the bits darndit!" she pushed the bits back, further.  
"really, it's yours I cannot deny a friend something so insignificant to me." he pushed the bits.  
"take tah bits!" she placed the bits in the register, picked up the ball, and ran out before Gamemaster could give them back.  
He shook his head, and closed his register. "alright, if you insist."

"um, hello, am I intruding?" Lyra walked into the shop.  
"oh, of course not." he bowed. "welcome."  
"thank you, do you have those sticky hooves?" she asked.  
"yes, back with the other toys." he pointed and Lyra started searching.  
"I would have been here yesterday, but it was so crowded." she picked up a sticky hoof, and browsed a bit.  
"oh, it was very crowded yesterday. I almost drowned in ponies. And one draqonequus." he grinned.  
"oh my, Discord was here?" she looked about.  
"oh he decided to stalk me for a day on Tuesday." he smiled. "not half bad, but a bit of a prankster, though according to Twilight you have reasons to dislike him?" he started working on his device again.  
"oh yes, he turned this into chaos central last year." she shuddered.  
"ah, yes, he did say he was less tame at one time. He gave me a literal **sand**wich." he chuckled.  
"hm I suppose." she picked up a chesk game, and walked over to him. "alright, how much?"  
he ran a couple numbers. "eighteen bits." she counted them out. And he counted them. "alright, thank you for your business, have a nice day."  
"you too." Lyra said, meeting her niece outside, handing her the toy.

"hi G sorry I couldn't be here yesterday the Cakes wanted me to man the shop while they came over for a few things did you sell them anything? You know I need to come here plenty can't have a party without games and yours is the fist real game shop I just got things from the party shop and made the games myself but now you're here oh we are going to throw the best parties together *gasp* maybe Cheese can come over and all **three** of us can trow a party! Get on that David!"

_**really? Twice in one chapter, cut it out myself.**_

"oh yeah you definitely do so anyways what games do you have ooh candy land I love that game! And it has pieces that look like real candy ooh there's even rock candy! Maud would love it!"Pinkie grabbed the game. "ooh look a toy that looks like a rock but it's soft I should get for Maud too she'd love it it could play with boulder!" she grabbed a few more games and ran up to Gamemaster "how much do I pay?"  
"give me a nano-second Pie-San." he began counting the giant pile of games and toys. "fifty seven bits."  
"here you go!" she handed him a pile, which he counted.  
"well, thank you, I hope, Maud was it? likes the rock." he smiled and waved as she pinkie-hopped away.

"hey Dad." the day had dragged on, with no more than two customers at a time, and school had finished.  
"hey there Diamond, was school fun?" he asked, placing the Tetris cartridge into the device.  
"what's that?" Diamond asked, getting close.  
"back up, if it explodes for the fifth time I don't want you getting burnt." he turned it on, and that fateful music started up, Before it exploded again. A cartoony bast mark on his face.  
"um, do you want some help Dad?" Diamond asked.  
"no, I got it. It made noise that time, so I'm getting closer." he took some notes.  
"what are you doing?" Diamond passed him a paper towel.  
"thanks, I'm trying to make a device that is small enough to carry that works like an arcade machine, those things were huge, and only had one game. But they're what I grew up with. There was a Tetris machine at school, and I loved that thing." he took the parts and started bending them back into position.  
"hello!" Sweetie-belle walked in. "Rarity asked me to see what you had. We don't have any games we can both agree on at home." she looked at Diamond Tiara. "oh, hi Diamond."  
"hello Sweetie-belle, look around, Dad's great at making games so you'll find something I'm sure." Diamond smiled.  
"um, well, what would you suggest Diamond?" Sweetie was a bit suspicious.  
"well, Rarity is into fashion, I know that, what do you like?" Diamond looked up at her.  
"um, singing and dancing. Oh, and putting on costumes!" she said.  
"alright, well, there's this." Diamond picked up a game that was about making yourself a pop-star, and had cutout costumes, and songs to sing and such.  
"ooh, yeah, that might be fun!" Sweetie picked it up. "ooh." she noticed a coloring book about fashion. And picked that up.  
"how much for these G?" she asked.  
"oh, let's see 'pop-mania' and the fashion book, twenty bits." Sweetie-belle looked down.  
"aw, Rarity only gave me ten." she went to put the book away.  
"hey now wait, that's how much it costs, without a discount. You and Rarity have never come over here, I'll give you a first time deal, 50% off, that makes it ten bits." he smiled.  
"oh really?" Sweetie-belle smiled "here you go!" she handed him the bits and ran back home.  
"alright then, It's about time for you to get some dinner don't you say?" Gamemaster smiled and pulled out some packed dinners.  
"yeah!" they flipped the sign to "closed, please try again tomorrow, sorry for the inconvenience."

"well, how was school?" Gamemaster took a bite of sandwich, this time without sand.  
"fine." she smiled.  
"well, what did you learn about?" he asked.  
"oh, um, we learned about construction work, and I talked a bit about how we fixed this up." she smiled. They ate without much other conversation.

"alright, sleep well my shining Diamond. May you never become dull." though as he said that, he knew she staying awake a bit longer, the chapter of "the Griffon's goblet" they had finished ended on a cliffhanger, but he went to sleep. Dreaming of when he was a colt, before the bullying, and when he would play Tetris, he got so good he had seven out of ten high-scores. The other three were a few teachers who had too much time on their hooves.

_**Alright, I hope yo all enjoyed the chapter. Do you guys want the forth wall to be broken? Or should I leave it intact?  
**__**Twilight-"huh? Forth wall?"  
**__**yeah, ask Pinkie about it sometime. So anyways, please leave a...  
**__**Rarity-"hello, you didn't forget about me? Did you?"  
**__**oh crap!oh crap!oh crap!oh crap!oh crap!oh crap!oh crap!oh crap!oh crap!oh crap!oh crap!  
**__**Rarity-"get over here!"  
**__**alright*huff* please leave a review, and if you enjoyed *huff* follow and favorite. Oh god, I need to get in shape. And remember *huff* to give someone a smile today :) oh god I can't hold a smile, look what you've done to me!  
**__**Rarity-"just one suit! Please?"  
**__**NO!**_


	9. success

_**Hello my amazingful people, ugh, schools over for the year, so I have to give back the school computer, and I need to re-make my dictionary.  
**__**Twilight-"really? You're going to whine about that?"  
**__**I am not whining, I am complaining. This is whining.  
**__**Rarity-"hey, that's my line!"  
**__**oh quiet. The keyboard is way too clunky, I keep on thinking I hit a button and didn't. And it's way too loud.  
**__**Twilight-"wow, you're complaining a lot for someone who just needed to change computers."  
**__**oh, quiet you, I can't play any of my games either because it's a mac, and they can't run like any games at all.  
**__**Gamemaster-"really? Just play a different game."  
**__**hey, I put a lot of effort into my level 26 hunter-ranger elf.  
**__**Gamemaster-"really?"  
**__**yes really. I'm a nerd, I obsess.  
**__**Gamemaster-"oh, fine."  
**__**alright, so this is an Applejack chapter, no Derpy, or baby, or anything distracting, this is all Applejack's.  
**__**Applejack-"a'right! Finally! mah own chapter!"  
**__**okay, you don't need to be that exited. So now, because I can't think of anything else to put here, hi-ho chapter away!(bonus points, what show did I steal that from?)**_

"howdy G, how was business?" Applejack walked into the shop as Gamemaster finished cleaning.  
"ah, hello Applejack. Business was good, how was the orchard?" Gamemaster put the broom he was using away, and brushed his hooves against each-other.  
"it was fine, all tah apples are bucked down an' Appleblom ain't gotten in no trouble yet." she passed him a pile of copper sheets. "Big Mac was workin' on the barn roof, these were left o'er." Gamemaster bowed, and passed her a hoof-full of bits. "here."  
"now what in tarnation? dun try ta pay me fer gifts!" Applejack shoved the bit filled hoof back.  
"no, I cannot take this without payment, surely you understand?" he put his hoof back forward.  
"really, yah dun have ta pay me, this here's a gift." Applejack pushed the hoof back.  
"listen, you insist on paying for a ball, I insist on paying for copper plates, this is much more valuable." he placed the bits into her bag, and put his hoof down.  
"a'right, fine." she smiled and shook her head.  
"was that all you came for?" Gamemaster put his Gameboy-esque project away.  
"naw, I jus' thought I'd bring ya that too. Granny smith was wondering if you an' Diamond could come o'er fer dinner, she's been wantin' ta meet you." Applejack looked at him expectantly.  
"well, I will have to see if Diamond wants to come." Gamemaster left the shop, Applejack followed him out.  
"o'course, ah'll come with ya to talk ta her."  
they arrived at the park, where Diamond was playing buck-ball with Dinky and pipsqueak.  
"hey Diamond, who's winning?" Gamemaster called out, smiling.  
"dinky and pipsqueak." she said, kicking the ball towards the goal, Dinky quickly stopped the ball.  
"alright, really fast, would you like to go to the Apple's for dinner?" Applejack waved.  
"um, yeah, sure." she grinned a bit nervously, then got hit on the head with the ball.  
"oh, I'm sorry Diamond, I just, I just don't know what went wrong." Dinky called out. And Gamemaster could see Diamond's face getting red, and he could see her ready to blow, and he cleared his throat loudly.  
"oh, it's, okay, Dinky, do, it, was, an, accident." you could see her physically struggling to not rage.  
"oh, thank you Diamond!" Dinky ran up and hugged her, and soon Diamond hugged her back. Diamond didn't know that the reaction of somepony from being nice was so, well, nice.  
"you're welcome." she smiled.

"Granny ah'm home!" Applejack called out "'an ah got guests, this here's Gamemaster. And he recently adopted Diamond."  
"well howdy there Gamemaster, Applejack has told me some stories about ya, an' yer always welcome In our home." Granny Smith smiled.  
"eeyup." Big Mac was placing baskets of apples into a cellar.  
"well then, This here is Granny smith an' Big Macintosh." Applejack pointed at each of the family members.  
"hello Apple-Sama, Apple-San." Gamemaster bowed to them.  
"jus' call me Granny Smith, and you kin call Big Mac his name too ya know." Granny smiled.  
"of course Granny Smith." he bowed again.  
"hey it's G! Ah didn't know you were comin' here!" Applebloom ran up and jumped on him.  
"I take it you're exited Apple-Chan?" he grinned.  
"o'course ah am! Y'all are one o' tah best grown-ups in Pony-ville!" she jumped off and ran to Applejack. "why didn't ya tell me he was comin' o'er!?" she asked excitedly.  
"well, I only asked him today, ah didn't have time ta tell yah." Applejack grinned and put her on a chair. "now y'all just sit down, I went to tha library an' I got a book of Neighpanese recipes, I mixed 'em with some of our recipes tah make somethin' that's both of 'em." she grabbed a pot off the stove and brought it to the table. "ah present to y'all, apple raymen." she grinned.  
"it's pronounced ramen, rah-mehn." Gamemaster corrected sheepishly.  
"oh, sorry G." apple grinned apologetically.  
"it is okay, Neighpanese is a very different language." Gamemaster smiled.  
"a'right." Applejack started dishing up the ramen, giving everypony a hearty serving.  
"_arigatou._" said Gamemaster without thinking.  
"what? Is that Neighpanese?" Applejack looked at him quizzically.  
"oh, yes, it means thank you." he was the one grinning apologetically this time.  
"oh, it's fine, y'all are Neighpanese. Ya know, how'd ya learn Equestrian anyways?" applejack asked, putting a fork of noddles in her mouth. "y'all are pretty good at to, fer livin' in exile fer twenty years." she swallowed the noodles.  
"oh, in school all foals are required to learn a foreign language, I chose Equestrian." he explained "though I never got good at writing, reading takes time, but writing is ridiculous, I have no Idea how you remember all those rules, I can only read because I memorized all the words themselves." he shook his head, and grabbed an apple piece with his chopsticks. "this is very good." he ate the apple.  
"thank ya', I was afraid y'all wouldn't like it." applejack was relieved. "so, how have ya been doin' on that mini-arcade thing?" Applejack was wondering how it would work commercially.  
"oh, it still explodes, but only when I add more than music." he shrugged.  
"a'right, by tha' way, will non-unicorns be able to make those cartridges?" she asked.  
"oh, um, well, no. sorry." he looked down and grabbed more noodle.  
"oh, it's not like ah'm disappointed, I was expectin' that answer." she smiled.  
"alright." he looked around, and saw Diamond talking with Applebloom. 'ah, good, I'm glad.' he thought, smiling.  
"what are y'all smilin' about?" Applejack asked curiously.  
"oh, it's just that Apple-Chan and Diamond are talking friendly" he smiled and sighed.  
"yeah, ah suppose that that's pretty good." Applejack looked up at the clock. "it's getting' pretty late, Applebloom, its almost time for ya' to head to bed."  
"aw." both fillies looked at the floor.  
"y'all can talk tomorrow at school, so Applebloom, head to bed." she glared at her sister.  
"a'right, 'night Diamond." she went up-stairs.  
"Diamond, It's about time you went to bed as well." Gamemaster cleared his plate, and cleared his throat when she almost didn't.  
"y'all need to teach me that trick G, t'would help me git Applebloom to clean her room." Applejack chuckled.  
"I will see you tomorrow Applejack." the two guests left. Applejack and Big Macintosh waved, Granny was already asleep.

"good night my shining Diamond, may you never become dull." he tucked he in.  
"good night Dad." she snuggled into her sheets.  
"well, today was interesting." he started talking to himself.  
"yes, it was. I'm surprised they don't hate you."  
"oh shut up, I told you already that this is going to be different."  
"yes, but what about the future? How do you know they won't hate you when they really get to know you?"  
"oh come on, did you not see how exited Apple-Chan was?" he was drifting between Equestrian and Neighpanese.  
"yes, but what if she doesn't like you in the future?"  
"oh come on, really? We have a business, a home, friends, an adopted daughter. What could go wrong?"  
"what happens if a _youkai_ invades?"  
"that wouldn't be my fault!"  
"maybe, but they might blame you, they are Neighpanese, and you're the only Neighpanese here."  
"I doubt it, really why are you so pessimistic?"  
"why are you so trusting? Remember rule number one? Don't trust don't be disappointed."  
"that's your rule, not mine."  
"fine, whatever, you should sleep, you never know what monsters going to try to kill you tomorrow."  
"fine, but only because I need to take Diamond to school." he went to sleep, dreamless.

"Diamond?" he was looking around, Diamond was no-where to be seen! He woke up, and she was gone. He searched the cave, finding a note that told him she had gone to school, he wasn't waking up. "oh thank _Amaterasu_" he sighed, and he went to the shop.

"hello, how are you?" Bonbon had walked in.  
"oh, I'm doing fine thank you." he smiled and continued to work on his pony-boy, he had finally named it. "if you need anything just ask."  
she searched the shop, looking at a few things. "um, do you have any spare pieces?"  
"oh yes, that barrel over there, one bit per piece." he pointed, and went back to welding a tin Battery to the copper backing.  
"alright, I've always liked making my own games too, so I thought I'd get some pieces from you. Don't worry, I'm not going to steal your business." she grinned and rummaged through the barrel.  
"alright." he placed the halves together and he turned it on. "duuun! Dun ding dunn!" it started to play music, then it started melting! "agh! No!" he started to take the pieces and separate them so they would cool. "what's that you're working on?" Bonbon asked him.  
"oh, a game playing device, I call it a pony-boy. Really a project." he explained, taking the parts and flattening it out. "hmmm, maybe?" he looked at how thick the plates were, and he made them paper thin, and laced them with iron, Put it together, and ran it. "duuuun! Dun ding dunn!" it started playing music and the images floated unto the screen. "YES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES!" he started dancing about as the Tetris menu floated unto the screen. And the pony-boy flew across the room, ramming the wall, and continued to run. "YESS! OH MY _AMATERASU_! I NEVER THOUGHT I'D GET IT TO WORK!"he laughed some more, as a demo video of the game ran on the pony-boy.  
"alright! I would love to celebrate with you, but I need to take these home, so, if you would?" She passed him the bits and Pieces.  
"of course." he counted the bits, and put them in the register. Grabbed the pony-boy, and started playing the game. "oh yes, It's just like I remember." the nostalgia washed over his as he racked up points by the thousand.  
"it's party time tonight yay! I need to make a pony-boy cake, and make punch and get some streamers, oh boy!" Pinkiepie came out of no-where and started bouncing around and party planned while she jumped out of the shop.

"hello G, how are you?" Gamemaster had come to the library to tell Twilight the great news.  
"Twilight! I finally got the pony-boy to work! It played Tetris perfectly!" he was bouncing around Pinkie-style and giggling like a school-filly.  
"is that the thing you've been working on all week?" she asked, Spike cleaning up the mud he tracked in behind him as he jumped.  
"YES! All I needed to do was thin the copper, it was absorbing the magic!" he stopped jumping and flopped down exhausted. "oh my _Amaterasu_, I finally did it." he panted and the device fell out of his pouch.  
"oh, is that it?" Twilight picked it up and turned it on, the music started up.  
"yes, and you can play Tetris, it even stores your high-score like the arcade machines." he giggled and rolled around. Twilight turned it on and started playing.  
"wow, I can hardly believe you did it. This is amazing."  
"I know right?" he giggled. "I even beat one of my old high-scores, 40250, by eighty points!" he giggled again.  
"wow, and Pinkie is probably going to throw a 'G just finished the pony-boy' party tonight, isn't she?" Twilight placed the pony-boy back into his wallet as he got up.  
"yes, oh goodness, this is the best thing ever!" he was smiling bigger than Pinkiepie.  
"well, Diamond is almost done with school, you should pick her up, and you still need to manage the store." she went with him to the door and held it open for him.  
"oh, I made an AB to man the store today, I wouldn't be able to really take anything seriously." he giggled. "I made it look like a Neighpanese Dragon." he giggled, and you could see the snake-like body of the AB in the window, with a name-tag that said "I am Drago, welcome to Gamemaster game blaster." on it, and it was getting more than a few looks.  
"um, alright, let's just go to the school." she almost had to push him over.

"hey Dad! I'll see you tomorrow Dinky, Pipsqueak." Diamond waved to her playmates.  
"Diamond guess what? I finally finished the pony-boy." he giggled and danced around.  
"I take it you're happy?" Diamond shook her head.  
"yes! Do you want to try? You'll figure it out quick, It's simple." he passed her the pony-boy. Diamond began playing the game, as Gamemaster said she figured out the controls rather fast.  
"wow, you are not half bad at this." Twilight looked over Diamond's shoulder, and she was destroying Twilight's score.  
"aw man, I lost." she watched the game-over screen show up, and put in her name.  
"no, there's no such thing as losing, you try to get as high of a score as possible, you beat Twilight, so you're not bad." he grinned and Diamond passed him the pony-boy back.  
"hey Dad, can we go over to Twilight's?" Diamond asked, trying to get them to get together more, she was trying to play matchmaker.  
"well, if it's okay with Twilight." he looked over, and noticed that her mane was different, her fore-mane was curled, and her tail was combed more carefully.

"hey there G, hey Diamond." Spike was making a jewel cake, this time not eating every one.  
"hello Spike." Gamemaster grinned, and he tossed him some silver. "this is interesting, it tastes like sugar and bananas,\. it's weird, it's the last thing I expected to taste."  
"thanks Bro." he started lacing the cake with it.  
"alright, so, if you guys want to read a book then, um, feel free. I'm going to go, go upstairs and, just, take a nap." she stuttered, and trotted up the steps.  
'ugh, yeah, nap. She's probably fantasizing, or writing stories about the two of them like some crazy guy.' Diamond picked up a comic she'd started reading. As Gamemaster started reading the Equestrian tops, a record book.

"oh goodness, Owlicious, what do I do?" Twilight was pacing. "I have a crush bigger than a school-filly, but I don't know what's going to happen. Do I tell him, but what if he doesn't feel the same way? But what if I don't tell him and he feels the same way?" she flopped on her bed, and screamed into the pillow. "ugh, none of my romance novels have anything like this situation. It's either worst or best scenario, never like this." she was so confused, if only she knew what to do!

'ugh, how do I react to how I feel about Twilight? I wonder if there's any books in here that'll help?' he put away the book he was reading and started to look through the romance novels.  
"alright, Pride and Prejudice, no, my filly-friend, no, Twilight, hell no, I'm never reading that book again, even if it does have her name on it. Ugh." he just grabbed the old book and sat back down.  
"hey G how are you? Ooh that's a fun book do you want to help me get the pony-boy success party ready? Ooh maybe I can make candies that look like them? Hi Diamond wanna help me?" Pinkie burst in and began babbling.  
"yeah! Let's make a party Pinkie!" Diamond jumped up and began decorating with the puffy pink party pony.  
"Pinkie?" Twilight walked down the steps and looked around to see a party being made in her house?  
"oh hi Twilight I'm making the party here because everypony fits in here! Do you wanna hep get everything ready?" she jumped up and put a disco ball on the ceiling.  
"G, wanna head to your cave for a while?" Twilight asked, shaking her head.  
"sure." Gamemaster put the book away and walked to the door with Twilight.

"so, um, how's your day been?" asked Gamemaster as they walked to the cave.  
"fine, a bit slow though." Twilight watched the birds flying around.  
"same here, only Bon-San showed up today, so I had plenty of time to work on the pony-boy."  
"yeesh, that's like the only interesting thing that's happened today." she shook her head.  
"yeah, you want some fried tofu?" they had arrived at the cave, it was a shorter walk then they remembered.  
"sure." she put on the sandals without thinking.  
"alright." he put a pot of oil on the fire and began cutting up tofu and battering it.  
"this place really looks more homely than when you arrived." she looked around, there was the cmc cape, and all the walls were smoothed out, the crags in the walls had food and such,, and the bath in the back had a magical barrier and fire to keep it warm. There was a large hole with wood, and the games he had made were all stored in the side. Everything was sectioned, and Diamonds "bed" was carefully made in the side, with one corner having an indent from Gamemaster sleeping there. And there was even a few paintings Diamond made hanging on the wall, and a mural they were painting together.  
"yeah, you're right." he smiled, he'd only been here a couple months, but he already felt so welcome, and like he was a member of a tightly knit community. Even when he was weird, like when he made a huge bon fire for O_bon_ and danced, and made his deceased grandfathers favorite food, cherry ramen. Or when he would insist that Diamond help clean the school at the end of the day because of Buddhist tradition; but they were unusually understanding, Especially Twilight. He noticed that the oil was smoking, so he slowed the flames and put the tofu into the oil, and waited a few minutes before taking it out and seasoning it and putting it into bowls and took out the oil with magic.  
"thanks" Twilight brought over the tofu, and started eating it when Spike ran over with a scroll.  
"Twilight! G! Celestia sent a letter!" Twilight floated it over.  
"dear Twilight, we have trouble in Neighpan, a shogun that we often do trade with has requested help, bring Gamemaster, you'll need a translator."  
"Neighpan?" Gamemaster was intrigued.  
"yeah, I'll tell the girls to get ready, you need to get Diamond a sitter." she started galloping to the library with spike, as Gamemaster made an AB to take care of Diamond and he galloped to Twilight, ready to get on the train to Canterlot and finally return home, though he's not staying, for Twilight.

_**Dun dun duuuuuun! Next up is a story arc, so enjoy that.  
**__**Gamemaster-"I'm, finally return home."  
**__**Twilight-"yeah, and the rest of the girls are going to get to see too."  
**__**yeah, so I suppose it's time to get ready to start that, sorry for the hiatus, I had a lot of cleaning. Mom really like making breaks into clean fests.  
**__**Rarity-"oh goodness, this is going to interesting, and really, you need to clean, whether you like it or not."  
**__**alright, so I'm gonna work harder on the chapter a day, so please leave a review, and if you liked it follow and favorite, and remember to give someone a smile today :)**__**  
**_


	10. Trouble pt 1

_**Hey guys, how are you all doing? Are you ready for a story arc? If you somehow don't know what that is, it's when I make a series of three to five chapter that are one story, as opposed to the chapter being a few mini-stories.  
**__**Twilight-"okay, but Celestia is waiting for us, can we just go now?"  
**__**yeah, yeah, yeah gimme a minute. Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and/or left a review, it really makes me feel good to know I'm making your day better. So, since Twilight is getting so impatient, enjoy.**_

"hello girls, Gamemaster." they had at last arrived at the castle, and were escorted to the princess' by guards.  
"hello G, I see you're doing better." Luna smiled, and Gamemaster smiled back.  
"I see you and Luna have met." Celestia said, smiling. "but now, this is of great importance, Neighpan has asked for help."  
"not all of Neighpan, just which shogun asked, it's not all run buy one leader." Gamemaster said under his breath.  
"well, yes, it was the, what did they say?_ Koseinajogi_?" she mumbled the last word, finding the pronunciation difficult.  
"wait, what was that last one?" Gamemaster said quickly.  
"oh,_ Koseinajogi_, why?" Celestia was confused, why was he so interested, there was over thirty shogun, what was this one to him?  
"that sounds familiar, I can't put my hoof on it." he started pacing.  
"alright, well, they said that 'Trouble had come' but I'm not sure what that means. I have arranged air travel for you, so please, the international bonds with Neighpan hangs in the balance." she nodded to the guards for them to take the to the planes, run by magic duh.

"_Koseinajogi_? Where do I remember that? Was it a rival shogun? Was it an old family? Ugh." as they flew Gamemaster was completely absorbed in trying to remember what this name was to him.  
"listen, I'm sure you'll remember when we get there, for now sleep, everypony else is to get ready, okay?" Twilight said, trying to comfort him.  
"ugh, I can't, it's right on on the tip of my tongue." he tapped his hoof, and mumbled to himself.  
"oh right on the tip of your tongue? Here stick it out I'll read it to you!" Pinkie pulled Gamemaster's tongue out and examined it. "well it's not there sorry." she put it back and went back to sleep.  
"does she ever stop that? Her lack of knowledge of the rules of, well, reality are making my head spin."  
"oh you have no idea." Twilight said, remembering that the Pinkie-sense hadn't gone off since he had arrived.  
"alright, just sleep, I'll figure it out."he tried to be quite while he tried to remember. "ugh, I feel like I should know it, but why don't I? Ugh,_ Koseinajogi, Koseinajogi,_ ughh." he fell asleep, dreaming of the word floating in front of him in_ roma-ji_,_ katakana_,_ hiragana_, and_ kanji_, all four parts of the Neighpanese alphabet.

"alright, here we are." Twilight said, leading the seven of them out of the plane,  
"oh goodness, it feels good to stand on Neighpanese soil again._ Sugoi_." Gamemaster was sucked in the aroma of cherry blossoms and rice. "ah, we couldn't have come at a better time, it's cherry blossom season." he watched the petals floating down and the grass being peppered with pink. The bees pollinating them to make fresh ripe cherries in the future.  
"oh goodness, I need to make a line after this, 'the wonders of Neighpan.'" Rarity smiled, taking in everything.  
"I suppose you'll need an explanation of what a_ kimono_ is then Rarity-San." Gamemaster smiled.  
"please, just call me Rarity, along with all of us, we're your friends, no need for formalities." Rarity smiled as they started walking to the castle in the distance, clearly where the shogun lived.  
"alright Rarity." Gamemaster was taking in the surroundings, his home, he was home. But now he had two homes, and the other was where Twilight was. He would explain everything to his brother, and father, but he could never leave her. Something Twilight, unbeknownst to him, was worried he'd do.

They arrived at the castle in an hour, and Gamemaster again had a nagging feeling he was missing something, something he really should remember. Maybe father brought him here on a trip? "alright, please, seeing as I am the one who knows Neighpanese, let me do the talking, and remember, bow** low** when we arrive at the shogun's chambers." he said, not wanting the shogun to think they were rude.  
"alright G." Twilight said, practicing.  
"perfect." Gamemaster smiled at her. All of the foreigners bowed for practice, and Gamemaster had help a few, namely Pinkiepie and Rainbowdash. They walked in, and a samurai led them into the chambers.

_**I translated all this, just for you guys, figured you didn't want to run it all though google translator.**_

"hello shogun, it is an honor to be in your presence." Gamemaster, along with the others, bowed low.  
"rise Gamemaster, you need not be formal with me." they all stood up, and Gamemaster's eyes widened.  
"O_nii-san?_" he said in wonder.  
"yes, of course, however now is not the time, it's my father, he's been stricken." said the shogun, trembling at the mention of the name.  
"you do not mean?" asked Gamemaster, now seriously worried.  
"yes, I'm afraid he has. Last I heard he ran to the shinigami's woods, you must do your best."  
"of course." Gamemaster bowed again, the girls following. And they all left.

_**Back to Equestrian, AKA english.**_

"what was going on? Both of you looked worried." Twilight said, now scared, Gamemaster was never scared.  
"It's father, he's fallen to an old curse. in some rare cases there will be a second personality inside a Neighpanese pony from the Maregolian unicorns. This second personality is vicious, and takes pleasure from one thing, the suffering of another pony. It is almost impossible to escape after taken, and they will have all there properties multiplied a thousand fold, a strong pony becomes invincible. A weak pony will become as strong as the greatest pony. A pony with Belle-Chan's magical ability will become as strong as Starswirled, and a unicorn as strong as Twilight has the power levels of Discord-San." he shuddered. "Father was already strong enough to complete the hundred-fight-challenge, now he would be powerful enough to destroy the planet by punching it hard enough."  
"so wait, you're saying that he is ruled by a personality that only wants pain, and he's powerful enough to destroy the planet and bring it back?" Rarity shuddered as well.  
"yes." Gamemaster was worried, It was unbelievable, father was un-breakable, how could it take over?  
"so how does it escape?" Rainbowdash asked, without her usual cockiness.  
"stress, loss, depression, magically releasing it, anything that would weaken there willpower enough for it to bust out." he moved some branches so they could enter the woods.  
"wait, you said father, so was that..?" Twilight didn't even finish her question before Gamemaster answered.  
"yes, that was my brother,_ Koseinajogi Senshi._" he looked in shock, overjoyed, and sad all at the same time.  
"making you?" Twilight asked.  
"_Koseinajogi Asobishogun._" Gamemaster understood why he recognized the name, it was his family name. And they kept walking, the forest closing in on them, they could see the eyes of the monsters surrounding them, the monsters terrified by Gamemaster, his aura leaving them with dis-rest.

"hey what's that?" Pinkie asked, pointing to a broken down temple. "oh, that's an old_ shinigami_ temple. The more, mentally unstable, would perform pony sacrifices to the death gods to try to extend their life-span. It didn't work, but there's probably some sacrificial equipment in there." he shrugged, he came across dozens of them when he would explore.  
"well, wouldn't that be somewhere that you Father in his crazed state would go?" Rainbowdash asked, the same thing happened inn one of the Daring Do books.  
"you know, you may be right." Gamemaster lead them into the old building, as they went deeper into it, and closer to the altar, there were more and more blood stains, becoming more and more fresh, until the smell of blood permeated the air, and it was all they could smell, Rarity becoming sick to the stomach. They could taste the vile acts on their tongues and the dust blood and dirt made them vomit in their mouths. The walls were almost red with blood, some still wet and slowly dripping and sliding down the walls, leaving puddles near the walls. They could hear the screams of pain in the temple, and the laughter of a mad-pony. They started galloping in, there hoof-steps echoing to sound as if an army was coming, and the smell of blood and scat filled the air faster than ever as they came closer.  
"oh, hello there, have you come to play?" there was a blue unicorn hovering in the air, stained blood red; several dead cultists around, and a live one being eaten, screaming. "I was just having lunch." he laughed, his voice echoing around the room, sounding like an asylum during a breakout.  
"Father, this is not like you, you are kind, and you are honorable!" Gamemaster cried out as the still-beating heart of the cultist came out of his chest, and went into the maw of the ex-shogun.  
"oh come now, I am not your father, the weakling. you can call me, Trouble." he said, proud of his new name, through a mouth-full of heart, and the gurgling sounds of the dying cultist died out.  
"NO! You are my Father! Shogun! Father of two sons, husband of a wonderful mare and ruler of ten-thousand, not a monster!" he cried out, trying to pull his father out of the monster controlling him. "I know you're still in there! Please! I missed you! You know as do I if you escape he can never take back over! I missed you! Those twenty years I missed you every day! Mother and Senshi too! You can escape!" Gamemaster was almost in tears.  
"oh stop crying, he can't hear you. You don't even know how much you vanishing hurt him, then than bitch dyed from disease, and he was broken, he was invaded, and there was a typhoon killing off the crops, he was so dead inside that I didn't even need to try, he hardly even knows that I've taken over." Trouble laughed again, his voice drying out from the dust of the temple entering his lungs.  
"NO!" Gamemaster was crying on the ground, and he couldn't even do anything, he didn't know what to do, he was useless!  
"alright, listen here beast!" Twilight called out. "you have hurt our friend, you** will** fall, and his Father** will** come back!" she fired off a powerful blast of magic energy hitting Trouble strait in the chest, but he was un-phased.  
"you call** that** magic? Hah!" he fired off a blast so powerful that they all flew out of the temple, which was completely destroyed in the blast."that's magic!"  
"really?' a griffin with a cybernetic arm was flying in front of them. "that's nothing." he pulled a pistol out of a holster. "this is magic." he fired off six shots, each bullet hitting a different limb, the head, and the torso, near the lungs. The griffon grabbed all seven of them and teleported to a nearby cave, laying them ass down before sitting down and cleaning his pistol.

"ugh, what?" Gamemaster was the first to wake up, and his head hurt like hell.  
"well, looks like someone's up, Gurren, you won't recognize me, or see me again. Magic fuck-up sent me to this timeline somehow. Mint sent me a message telling me to help you guys out while I was here." he was sharpening his claws.  
"okay?" Gamemaster was still groggy, but he checked his pouch.  
"looking for these? I'm surprised ponies can use them, having no fingers and all." Gurren was holding the chopsticks in his hand.  
"give them back." Gamemaster demanded, glaring at him.  
"really? I did save you, maybe I should just consider this a bonus to my pay" he started putting them into his pocket.  
"you put them in there, and it won't matter how much you helped us, I** will** send more than a few AB after you." Gamemaster glared at him, a fiery glow showing in his eye.  
"alright dude, chill." he tossed them over.  
"thank you." he put his chopsticks into his wallet.  
"who's that?" Rainbowdash woke up, eyeing the griffon. "he's hot." she said under her half dead stupor.  
"hah, even if it's not the same Rainbowdash I knew she'd still say it eventually." he gave a half-insane half-overjoyed grin "oh quiet you." he said, to nopony that they could see.  
"well then, maybe if your glad about that we could find somewhere private?" Rainbowdash said, against all expectations Gamemaster had.  
"sorry Bella, saving myself for a different Rainbow." Gurren grinned, this time almost all mad.  
"oh fine, just explain why you're here, and what you plan on doing." Gamemaster really did not trust him, he wasn't telling them something, and he expected to figure out what.  
"well, as I said magic fuck-up sent me to a different time-line, apparently one where I never showed up until now, and Mint told me to help while I was here. Wonder if Reaper will make this part of his story?"

_**hey, Gurren, bad Griffon!  
**__**Gurren-"oh, shut up, you're the one borrowing me."  
**__**shut up, I was going to explain that later!**_

"okay, so what are you going to do?" Rainbowdash asked, really hoping it involved taking off his shirt.  
"help you kill the mad-man." he said shrugging.  
"that is my father, we try to reform first!" Gamemaster was furious at him for suggesting that option out of all them.  
"oh come on, after the shit-storm he got after you vanishing? I'm surprised he didn't commit seppuku, much less that you'll get him back." Gurren was now trying to wake the others up. "Get your lazy asses up, we've got adventuring to do." he grumbled.  
"whatever, we need to find where he is next, whether we kill him or not." Gamemaster really didn't like saying 'kill him' but he couldn't deny that Gurren was more than likely right.  
"you guys need to eat anyways, you were out for a whole day." he pulled some meat and vegetables from the back of the cave, how he cooked the meat none of them knew. "dig in."

"my goodness, G, Twilight, Rainbow, I can't believe you ate that!" Fluttershy was plenty upset that they had enjoyed it. "thanking it doesn't help." she glared at Gamemaster.  
"hey, we don't have time for this, we need to find where that Trouble fellow went." Gurren left the cave. "he could be anywhere in Neighpan by now." they all left and started walking.  
"what is that?" asked Rarity, trembling, and they all looked and the towering beast above them, flames everywhere, and the woods burning.

_**Well then, shorter than usual by a bit, but I think information density outweighs that here.  
**__**Gurren-"hey, what about me? You cut me off earlier."  
**__**okay, I'll explain now, ass, Gurren is a character made by iOptimusReaper, not me, thank you for letting me use him.  
**__**Gamemaster-"I don't like him."  
**__**well I do, okay?  
**__**Gamemaster-"I'm watching you"  
**__**Gurren-"hey, no creepy here, please!"  
**__**Gurren...  
**__**Gurren-"what? There's nothing wrong with it, he's just not my type, K?"  
**__**if you payed attention then you would know he's not yours either either.  
**__**Gurren-"fine."  
**__**Rainbowdash-"well I'm glad he's not into G, that would be sad."  
**__**yes Rainbow, I think we've established what you think of him.  
**__**Fluttershy-"I'm disappointed."  
**__**again, we all get it, okay? So anyways, I have to send this to reaper to Gurren check and still have the time to proof read, so, please leave a review, and if you liked follow and favorite, and remember to give someone a smile today :)**_


	11. trouble pt 2

_**Welcome, to the second chapter of the Trouble arc, mwahaha.  
**__**Rarity-"no, shut up! I want to know what the giant fire-breathing monster is!"  
**__**I bet all of my amazingful people think they know what it is huh? Well you're WRONG! I can guarantee that with 99% accuracy.  
**__**Rarity-"just let us know what it is!"  
**__**oh calm down already, you'll find out.  
**__**Gamemaster-"oh, it's ***** . huh? Why's that censored?"  
**__**spoilers my boy, spoilers.  
**__**Gurren-"my god, just start already!"  
**__**fine, you know the more I hang with you the more I dislike you, even though you're a great character. So here ya go, chapter two.**__**  
**_

"what is that!" Rarity cried out, terrified. The woods burning around it.  
"I don't know, but RUN!" cried out Twilight, turning.  
"oh calm down, It's just a_ basan_, came across more than one, they look terrifying, but if you lock eyes with it while it's crowing it'll vanish to Tartarus." he looked at the beast, now that the sun shone on it they saw it was a giant chicken. "and it's flames only burn what it wants to burn, so it can't burn us without meaning to, almost harmless, heck Senshi kept one a pet for a while until one of the servants found out." he chuckled.  
"so it's a giant cousin of Scootaloo?" asked Gurren, unimpressed.  
"huh?" Gamemaster looked at him quizzically. "you know what, it doesn't matter. Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he made a chicken noise while looking at it.  
"caawww!" the monster cried out looking at them, and vanished.  
"to the first layer of hell with you spawn of satan." said Gurren, laughing.  
"really, I'm amazed you were so terrified, I could have beaten it with my eyes closed." Gamemaster chuckled before looking at the dust spot again. "you know, I think that was Bassa. Heh" he chuckled before his head drooped. "yeah, Bassa. Father loved the little guy, and Senshi was almost a different pony." he wiped a tear from his eye. "none of you tell Diamond about this, she needs me to be strong."  
"tell Diamond, got it." chuckled Gurren.  
"shut it, before I send an army after you." Gamemaster glared at him.  
"hey, I get it okay? I had a family too ya know." Gurren started moving on.  
"Had?" asked Rainbowdash, confused.  
"long story short, three are six feet under and one went crazy." Gurren kept moving.

Soon they arrived at an old decrepit palace, where they saw what appeared to be a mare entering it.  
"hey, let's ask her if she's seen him!" called out Rainbowdash.  
"no! That is an_ anyobo_, it will kill you if disturbed, it was a concubine before she died while pregnant."  
"oh my, this place is scary, are you sure that mr. Koseinajogi is the most dangerous?" asked Fluttershy, who was hiding behind Pinkiepie.  
"yes, now then, need to search this, Trouble may want to go in there." he began to enter the palace, watching as to not disturb the_ anyobo_. "come on, hurry." he whispered fervently.  
"comin'"called out applejack, also quietly, and the rest of them came into the palace.  
"alright, just don't disturb the..." Gamemaster started saying before Gurren tripped and fell on the ghost mare.  
"who dares?' the ghost cried out both in their minds and vocally.  
"it was the griffon." said Gamemaster, eyeing Gurren.  
"the griffon you say?" the_ anyobo_ turned to Gurren, who was sprawled on the floor. "well griffon, meet your fate!" her maw opened as if she was a snake and rows of sharp teeth gleamed looking very physical, she began wrapping her mouth around his head, blood pouring from gashes from the serrated teeth.  
"oh come on, this is how I go? I was hoping it would be cooler." Gurren said, pulling out his gun. "well, I'm not dying unless it's cool, eaten by a dead pregnant chick isn't cool." he fired into her neck, and again into her belly. "let's see you handle that." the_ anyobo_ cried in pain, and released him, and he shot her in the head a few more times.  
"you insolent bird!" she cried out.  
"you idiotic Griffon, you can't kill something dead." Gamemaster cried.  
"really?" he snapped his fingers, and a burst of magic similar to Sombra's came out of his claw and struck the_ anyobo_, and she dissolved. "that looks pretty dead to me." he grinned, and he walked forward.  
"I swear I am so close to getting rid of you." Gamemaster grunted, walking deeper into the palace.  
They searched the palace, finding no trace of the mad-pony. And they went back on the hunt.

"ugh, it's like some vicious god wants us to fight every last thing in the woods before we can leave." Gamemaster mumbled.  
"aw y'all are doin' fine, a'right?" Applejack said, walking next to him.  
"ugh, this is ridiculous, even when we do find Father, what do we do?" Gamemaster picked a flower and started chewing on it.  
"listen, first things first, y'all can't keep sayin' father. This ain't him, ya said yourself this is a different pony takin' him o'er. And second, ya already tried refomin' him, I hate ta say it, but killin' him seems to be the only option." Applejack shoved him with her shoulder. "a'right?"  
Twilight was laying back and watching all this. 'oh no! Are, are they a couple? Are they flirting up there? Oh please no!'  
"what's wrong Twilight?" asked Fluttershy, walking next to her.  
"ugh, can you keep a secret?" Twilight shook her mane.  
"oh of course I can." Fluttershy said, holding a hoof out for a butterfly to land on.  
"I think I'm in love with G, and I think he's together with Applejack and I don't know what to do none of my books talk about this and I'm feeling so much and I don't know what to do please help Fluttershy." she said, talking faster the longer she went on.  
"oh my, that is a problem. Well I've never been in love, so I'm not sure, but, um, well, maybe you could try to let him know how you feel?" Fluttershy let the butterfly on hoof fly away.  
"oh, my, um, okay." she walked forward, as Applejack went back to talk with Rarity.  
"hello G, um, how are you?" Twilight muttered.  
"good, um, how are you?" he said out of habit.  
"um, fine. So I was wondering, are you and Applejack, um, you know, a thing?" she said, blushing.  
"A thing?" Gamemaster asked, confused.  
"you know, together, partners, a couple." she said, her face almost matching his coat.  
"oh, um, no. we're just friends." he smiled, and picked another flower and popped it in his mouth.  
"what's that?" Twilight picked one and started munching on it, it tasted sweet.  
"it's a flower that helps depression." he said, picking another.  
"oh, okay." she also picked one.  
"so, yeah." they said simultaneously, and they went silent.

"a'right, that is ta biggest darned tree a've ever seen." called out Applejack whistling.  
"wow that **is** a big tree I wonder if little elves are in there making cookies?" said Pinkiepie, hopping inside.  
"little elves making cookies? Really?" Rarity muttered, entering the tree.  
"well, lets go, shall we?" said Gurren, walking into the tree. And the rest of them followed suit.  
The tree actually looked bigger on the inside, and there was a huge staircase climbing the sides.  
"my goodness, I though it was a myth, never did I think I'd actually find it." Gamemaster muttered, climbing it. "if the books in the imperial library are anything to go by, then there should be a huge room at the top of this, if Fath... Trouble isn't up there then I don't know where he is." Gamemaster started climbing, his hoof-steps echoing to create an ominous sound, as if the grim reaper was coming.  
"well, let's go." said Twilight, also climbing. "deja-vu, this reminds me of the crystal empire. I wonder why Sombra was so obsessed with stairs?"

"oh my, you found me, I thought our play-date was over?" Trouble was at the top of the stairs, waiting for a play-thing.  
"listen, Father, I know you're in there, please, I don't want to hurt you." Gamemaster called out, hoping that it would finally work.  
"hah! Really? You really are weak aren't you?" laughed Trouble, floating down to them. "well? Let's play, shall we?"  
"gladly!" called out Rainbowdash, charging at him.  
"hah, I wish the rest of you had this much gusto." Trouble made a fist of magic and punched Rainbow strait on. "but I hope the rest of you are stronger."  
"you really think that took me out!?" called out Rainbowdash coughing up blood. "you'll have to try harder than that." she charged at him again.  
"oh my, for sure you are the most brave." Trouble grinned and made spears that he ran through her wings, destroying the bones. "but that doesn't mean strong." he laughed, drizzling the blood of his prey down his throat.  
"party cannon!" Pinkiepie puled out her famous cannon and began firing on Trouble.  
"oh my, how entertaining." he collected the pieces, and made a mace. "you have a cannon, I have a mace!" he swung down, Pinkiepie flying across the room, slamming against the wall, vomiting blood.  
"well, I see you don't like my parties." her hair fell limp, as if wet. "maybe a party of your caliber would fix it." she pulled a large cleaver out of her mane. "wanna make some cupcakes?" she threw the knife at Trouble, the blade digging into his flank.  
"oh my, it seems you have some Neighpanese in you." Trouble laughed and pulled out the knife. "and your second personality is your bitch." he threw the knife back, and it buried itself to the hilt in her leg.  
"aaaaaahhhhhhh!" Pinkemena screamed in pain, the cleaver wound leaking blood.  
"mah god! You monstah!" Applejack pulled out her lasso "take this!" she pulled her enemy into range by his neck and bucked him as hard as she could.  
"sorry sweetie, no apples here." and he whipped her with the lasso, deep welts showing on her, and she quickly passed out from pain.  
"you meanie!" cried out Fluttershy, flying up to him. " you will be nice!" she stared him down.  
"ooh, staring contest go!" he stared back, for several seconds, before he punched her in the face, a dent showing in her skull as she flew faster than Rainbowdash.  
"you ruffian!" Rarity grabbed his horn with magic, pulling herself up. "you do not touch Fluttershy!" she slapped him.  
"really? How about this?" he slapped back, and she flew as well, smashing into Gurren, they flew backwards and Gurren was stabbed by Rarity's horn, Trouble then smashed the pair, both falling unconscious. "you whore." he looked around, smiling as he looked at the ponies broken and bleeding around him, he laughed, his voice echoing around, and the smell of fresh blood filling the air.

"my god, Gamemaster, what do we do?" Twilight was terrified.  
"oh, it seems I missed a couple." Trouble turned and shot flames at Twilight, her coat burning off, and her skin burning, she screamed in pain and passed out, and writhed in pain, her burns torturous.  
"alright, listen here, if Fathers not back, then you'll have to deal with me Trouble. And you do NOT hurt Twilight, EVER! Unless you want my wrath!" he made an army of everything possible, both imaginary and real, terrifying monsters and warriors, enough power in them to destroy the planet, and it was all aimed at Trouble.  
"oh joy, let's play." he laughed, and the Ab roared, and Gamemaster's cries were loudest of them all, the pain of his life echoing in a single terrible scream.

_**And ultimate cliff-hanger. Seeing as every-pony but G and Trouble are passed out I can't really talk to anypony. So, um, yeah. Most of the anyobo facts were made up, do some research of your own, so yeah. please leave a review, and if you liked it then follow and favorite, and remember to give someone a smile today :)**_


	12. Trouble final part

_**Hello my amazingful people! Sorry about the hiatus again, I've been camping with my family recently. So hooray for me, I made a Patreon account to tie to my stories. What's Patreon?it's a cool way for me to get payed for my work, if you like the story then you pledge $x to help me out and pay me, and you get bonus', like chatting with me via google hangout, and getting your OC as a continuous character. If you want to check it out, my Patreon is Brotaku so now then, with me wanting money out of the way, let's finish this arc, shall we?**_

"you monster! You do NOT hurt Twilight! You never hurt the mare I love if you value your life!" Gamemaster charged at Trouble, an army following.  
"hah! You think you can kill me? Even with your, admittedly powerful, beasts you cannot even hurt me." Trouble laughed, his voice echoing once more, as if there was thousand. Before Gamemaster slammed into him, several AB following suit. Trouble, caught off guard, fell down, his head smashing against the floor. "well, maybe this will be interesting." Trouble grinned, and made twin swords to use, and began slashing at Gamemaster.  
"I. Will. Not. Lose." cried out Gamemaster as he dodged the swipes. "not to yo-aaaaaaaaaggghhhh!" a blade hit his side, ripping into his flesh and blood began pouring out of his side. "you son-of-a-bitch." he groaned out, an AB applying pressure and sealing the wound.  
"ha! You think that you'll beat me still? You're hilarious!" he came at him, a flurry of slashes and stabs. When Gamemaster created his own blade, and gave a hard slash to Trouble.  
"oh, well then, now you're getting in to the spirit!" laughed out Trouble, as he dodged several quick, precise swipes from Gamemaster. "but you forget, I taught you everything you know, and I know your weakness'" he stabbed at his belly, which Gamemaster barely parried. "and I remember you were never good at a parry!" he continued to unleash a barrage of stabs, some connecting, some missing. And Gamemaster fell down, clutching his belly. "now then, how should I finish you? Stab? Slash? Should I slowly impale you?" he laughed, when Gamemaster suddenly shot out a hoof, a huge spike attached to it, which broke through Trouble's sternum, shattered bone and solid magic sank into his heart. "well, I suppose I shouldn't have monologued, well then, you win, remember though, you killed, your father." he grinned as the blood seeped from his chest and he slumped down, falling on his son.

"killed, I killed father." muttered Gamemaster as they flew back to Equestria, after telling Senshi that Trouble was dead. The shogun was upset of course, but he had a nation to rule, he could not mourn.  
"it's okay G, yo..."  
"SHUT UP TWILIGHT!" shot out Gamemaster, screaming at her. Twilight walked back to her seat, and talked to Rarity.  
'why the hell did I do that? She was trying to help. Ugh, what the hell, I am a horrible pony, aaahhh!' he punched the wall of the plane, a resounding crunch filling the plane.  
"oh my Celestia! What's wrong!" cried out everypony in the plane.  
"ah, leave me alone." cried Gamemaster, examining his hoof. 'ah, motherbucker, it's completely broken. Why the hell did I do that? Like I'm not injured enough... from killing Father.' he went into the bathroom and used his magic to make a splint for his now-broken hoof. And went back to his seat.  
G, are, um, are you okay?" Fluttershy carefully tiptoed over to him. "if you want me to leave that's okay, I'll leave." she got ready to leave, when Gamemaster piped up.  
"um, no, can we talk?" he ate some more pain-killing herbs, and sat-up.  
"oh of course, what do you want to talk about?" Fluttershy sat down, ready listen.  
"oh, well, you seem to be, well, um, upset, so, would you like to talk about it?" she asked, in her usual tentative manner, shuffling her hooves.  
"I had to kill my father, how, how do I get past that? I mean, the only ponies who kill their father are in asylums, so, should I be in an asylum? I, well I don't know what to do, and I don't think I can deal with this." he said, his depression seeping into his speech.  
"oh my, well, that is a problem isn't it?" Fluttershy tapped on her legs.  
"yeah, Senshi is upset of course, but he didn't kill him. How do I deal with this?" he asked, desperately needing council.  
"well, one, you didn't kill your Father, you killed Trouble, Trouble is who killed your Dad." she patted his back, the one place not covered in bandages.  
"I suppose, thanks." he smiled. "can, can I be alone now?"  
"oh of course, I'll, I'll go now." she got up and left quickly.  
'ugh, I killed Trouble, that doesn't help much, Trouble was still Father, and Father was still in there.' he shook his head. 'ugh, this is ridiculous.' he smashed his head against the seat in front of him. "aaghh!" he screamed, before he passed out from pain, exhaustion, and depression.

"hello again G." luna floated down as Gamemaster started dreaming.  
"Luna? Hello, why are you here?" he looked up at her.  
"to show you something you missed." she opened his memory. "right here." the scene where Trouble died showed up into the "screen"  
"why the hell are you showing me this!?" he cried out, angry as a raging chimera.  
"just watch." she said, gently. The scene continued, and he saw something he did miss the first time, the look on Father's face the instant he died, a look of relief, he was finally free, and he was thanking his son for coming and freeing him.  
"did you see it this time?" Luna asked.  
"yes, thank you, that, that helps." he smiled, pretending to be able to accept what had happened.  
"your welcome, now, you need to wake up." she smiled and left.

"G, we're back." Twilight was shaking him awake, her coat starting to grow back.  
"hello." Gamemaster woke up.  
"that Gurren fellow is gone, and Rainbowdash is really moping now." she motioned to the Rainbow pegasus, who's head was low, and her hooves scraping.  
"really? That jerk actually left a positive impact on somepony?" he shook his head.  
"well, it looks like you're feeling better." Twilight smiled, talking both mentally, and that his hoof was healing  
"yeah, Luna visited, and showed me something." he grinned, and walked off the plane.  
"Dad!" Diamond ran up to him, and hugged him. "you're back!" she squeezed as hard as she could.  
"hey there Diamond! How are you doing? The AB made sure you went to school?" he hugged her, lifting her off the ground.  
"yeah." she giggled. "but it wasn't the same as having you here."  
"yeah, of course not." he put her down.  
"well you two, we have to report to Celestia, but then we can head home." Twilight smiled, and they started walking to the castle.

"well then, I see you finished your mission." Celestia was standing in the throne room, waiting for them.  
"yes princess." Twilight responded.  
"oh my, what happened?" Celestia asked, looking at all their wounds.  
"allow me." said Gamemaster stepping forward, and began explaining the adventure.

"well then, I'm sorry, you have my condolences." Celestia said, bowing to Gamemaster.  
"please, I, I've accepted it." he looked over, and saw Luna and smiled.  
"well then, I must say, you are a strong stallion." Celestia bowed again.  
"please, I just want to return to Pony-ville and live normally." Gamemaster hated all these formalities, all it did was remind him of his past.  
"oh, of course." Celestia nodded. "I'll allow you all to leave. Twilight, sometime later, would you mind sending a letter to detail everything so we can place it in the archives."  
"of course." Twilight said, and she followed the rest out of the room, a few paces behind.

"you got to meet the princess? Oh my goodness that is amazing!" Diamond bounced in circles. "what was it like? Did you talk to her? Ooh was it like when you were with the shogun in Neighpan?"  
"quiet, now, just, stop talking." he snapped.  
"oh, um, sorry." Diamond backed away.  
"oh, sorry, it's just, don't talk about Neighpan for a while, please?" he said, trying to smile.  
"um, yeah, sure." she also smiled.  
"G, let's go, the train awaits." Twilight said, trying to diffuse the situation.  
"right, of course. I suppose, I'm not as done with this as I thought. I suppose I do need, a bit more time." he said, hanging his head.  
"it's okay Dad." Diamond smiled. "I don't know what happened but I'm sure you'll recover, you lived in the Everfree for twenty years, right?"  
"maybe, let's just go." he said, walking into the train.  
"let's follow." Twilight said, as she also entered.

"welcome home!" called out the town, they looked up and saw a sign, 'welcome home adventurers!'  
"wait, who organized this? Pinkie was with us?" laughed Rainbowdash, apparently already forgetting about Gurren, who had secretly left a memory spell so that this Rainbowdash would be able to find her own love, he was never supposed to be there after all.  
"I did!" called out Mrs. Cake. "you don't have Pinkie as a tenant and not learn how to after all."  
"thanks Mrs Cake!" laughed out Pinkie pie, hugging the baker.  
"well then, let's begin!" called out the Mayor. they began playing games and eating treats until they took out a cake, which was shaped like Neighpan and had Gamemaster's cutie-mark on it.  
"um, can, I'm going to go, I need to go, sorry, um, bye." said Gamemaster, hurriedly, as he ran away.  
"I'll go with him." said Twilight, and followed him.

"please, Twilight, just, just go, please, I'm fine." Gamemaster said as he watched her walk into the cave.  
"no your not! Listen, you can keep telling yourself that, you can keep locking it away, or you can really accept it. I know what Luna showed you, all the alicorns have a loose telepathic bond. And I know you said you accepted it, but you still think you killed your father."  
"I did! I killed him! I'm a mad-pony! Only a mad-pony would kill his own father! I belong in an asylum! I deserve to go down in the ancient texts as a monster!"  
"NO! The stallion I love is not a monster!" cried out Twilight, falling to her knees.  
"st... stallion you love?" asked Gamemaster.  
"yes, I, I love you, but I was afraid! I was afraid you'd think I was just a filly with a crush, that you would just shun me. I was afraid you'd think I was silly, that's what my peers thought when I had a crush in magic kindergarden." she started crying.  
"I don't think you're silly! I, I love you too, but I was afraid you would think of me differently, that you would send me away. and even if you did I thought that we would clash, Neighpanese and Equestrian. it, it doesn't mix very well." he dashed forward and grabbed her, and they hugged as if they were about to die.  
"I love you G, I, I should have just told you." Twilight sobbed unto Gamemaster's shoulder.  
"I love you too, and I never should have thought that our differences would have separated us." Gamemaster began sobbing as well, and they grabbed each-other, hugging as if they were going to die.

"hey, you two, the party is only over for the fillies!" Pinkie called out, bounding into the cave, Diamond following. And they stumbled unto the two cuddling, asleep.  
"huh, oh. Hi Diamond, I confessed." Twilight smiled tiredly.  
"finally, I was getting tired of keeping your secret **and** his." she said, calming down.  
"wow, you could have told us." Gamemaster said, secretly having woke up.  
"sorry, but you two left me in a weird position." Diamond said.  
"yes, I suppose we did." Gamemaster grinned. "but young filly, you nee to get to sleep, your bed-time was an hour ago." he said, looking at a clock in the corner.  
"yeah, I know." she walked over to the bath.  
"alright, let's let her clean up." Twilight said, and the adults left.

"hello Gamemaster. I'm so sorry, I had no idea what happened, Applejack explained what happened." Mrs Cake said, trying to make sure he was okay.  
"you couldn't have known, in fact, did you save me a piece?" Gamemaster said, grinning.  
"um, yes, here." she said, passing him some dessert.  
"thanks." he grinned, taking a bite.  
"alright." the group began to party. The night away, until they all went home and to sleep, half drunk and half so full of sugar that they could barely sleep.

_**Well, we're done, and they finally got together, yay!  
**__**Twilight-"yeah, I, I'm glad."  
**__**eh-yup. So anyways, I can't think of much else. So please leave a review, and if you liked it, follow and favorite and don't forget to give someone a smile today :)**_


	13. a new day

_**hey guys, wazzup? I'm using google docs now, because my computer can't handle OpenOffice. yeah, OpenOffice, like, the least CPU intensive thing possible.  
**__**Twilight-"okay, so what this chapter going to involve?"  
**__**well, I don't know yet, I was just gonna wing it.  
**__**Rainbowdash-"wing it? yeah!"  
**__**not that kind of winging it, you crazy pegasus.  
**__**Rainbowdash-"aww."  
**__**alright, so anyways, I suppose I'll just start.  
**__**Rarity-"hey, I was going through one of my magazines, I saw a wonderful haircut that would suit you so well."  
**__**no! I like my buzz-cut!  
**__**Rarity-"oh, come on, just let me try one thing, please?"  
**__**no!  
**__**Rarity-"oh come on, get over here."  
**__**run!**_

"oh, too, much, _sake_." Gamemaster woke up after Mrs. Cakes hardcore party, now with a bad hangover. "darned hangover."  
"what's a hangover?" asked Diamond, just waking up.  
"it's nature's way of punishing you after drinking too much alcohol." he replied. "at least, that's how Father described it." he said, wincing.  
"oh, okay." Diamond was sorry that she asked now.  
"oh, don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Gamemaster said, noticing her distraught look.  
"G?" Twilight walked in.  
"Twilight!" he ran up to her, and hugged her, kissing her neck.  
"oh, you sly dog." Twilight giggled, slapping his rear.  
"oh Celestia, I do not need to see this!" Diamond hid her face.  
"alright, let's stop, for her sake." Gamemaster said, releasing Twilight.  
"alright." she pouted.  
"ugh, thank you." Diamond got up. "I'm going to go to the park and play with Dinky and Pipsqueak." she walked over to the exit.  
"alright, make sure you get home for dinner. do you have your lunch?" Gamemaster walked over to the bath.  
"yeah, I have it." Diamond waved a bag of food.  
"alright." Gamemaster climbed into the water, while Diamond walked out of view.

"can I join you?" asked Twilight after a few minutes. "or is that offer expired?"  
"of course not." he smiled, grabbing the soap. Twilight climbed in, several hairs from her coat falling out from her burns.  
"are you okay?" Gamemaster grabbed some herbs and washed the patches that were now bare.  
"of course." she smiled.  
"ugh, this is my fault, I should have been more careful." he said, cleaning Twilight off.  
"no, it's not your fault, trust me." Twilight said, grabbing the hoof he was scrubbing her with.  
"no, if I hadn't been so afraid to act then every...mmmpff" Twilight locked lips with him to quiet his ramble. and he gently melted into it for several seconds before they separated, a single strand of saliva connecting their lips.  
"if you failed, would that have happened?" Twilight smiled, the strand breaking.  
"alright, alright." Gamemaster smiled, and pulled her in. they held each-other close for almost fifteen minutes.  
"eew, gross!" cried out Sweetie-belle and Diamond as they walked in.  
"wait, what are you two doing here!" cried out Gamemaster letting go of Twilight, who fell under the surface of the bath.  
"well, we were getting a game, and now, eew!" they quickly grabbed the box and ran out.  
"well um, let's just, go. you need to open shop." Twilight muttered.  
'yeah, I suppose so." he got out and dried himself off and left.  
"you crazy Stallion." Twilight smirked and started to relax in the water.

"howdy there G, heard you an' Twi are a couple now." Applejack was down-town to sell apples and stopped off at the blaster to check on Gamemaster.  
"yes, um, listen, I wanted to get Twilight something actually, a gift, but, well, I don't really know what she would like." he shuffled his hooves.  
"tha's easy, git her another book, she's always sayin' she can never git enough of 'em." Applejack grinned. "or, jus' between you an' me, she actually really likes art, especially statuettes." Applejack grinned.  
"thank you." Gamemaster grinned. and Applejack Grinned back. "a'right, I gotta go, Applebloom is waitin'." Applejack walked out.  
"alright, statuettes, um, okay?" he focussed on his magic. "alright, prices, customer service, logic, kindness." he mumbled a few more commands into his AB and created a plain white pony, no cutie-mark and a unicorn. "alright, now then." he left the shop and started browsing around to find something.

"hello, are you an artisan?" Gamemaster saw a pony with a paint-easel cutie-mark.  
"yes, what do you need?" she smiled at him.  
"um, I was wondering if you made statuettes? um, I wanted to get my, um, filly-friend a gift, and a friend said that she liked art." he smiled.  
"oh yes, what does she like?" the artist pulled out a few works.  
"um, books, history, learning, things like that." he smiled.  
"ah I see, let me see what I have." she went to the back for a few moments and came back. "here you are." she had a statuette of starswirled the bearded holding a book.  
"hmm." he examined it. "this is amazing, how much for it?"  
"forty bits?" the artist said.  
"alright, here you are." he pulled out the bits and counted them. "there we are, Twilight should like this."  
"Twilight? as in Twilight sparkle?" she asked, amazed.  
"oh, um, yes." he smiled.  
"well, she should be lucky to have a colt-friend who cares enough to search for her. and you are really lucky, your filly-friends a princess!" she grinned.  
"oh, um, she doesn't like being treated special, so I just think of her as Twilight, not Princess Twilight." he grinned. "thank you, I may come back." he waved and went back to the shop, dissolving the AB.

"hello G, how's everything been?" Twilight was visiting Gamemaster after her very long bath.  
"good, um, I got you something." he pulled out the statue.  
"G, this is, amazing! thank you!" she hugged him.  
"um, of course." he smiled and hugged her back.  
"my goodness, I'm always interrupting something when I come here." said Lyra, who had just walked in.  
"oh, sorry." Gamemaster climbed out of Twilight's grasp.  
"alright, I'm having a party in a few days, and I needed a few new games." Lyra walked around looking at the games.  
"you know what G, I'll just head home for now. talk to you later." she walked out.  
"excuse me, Gamemaster, but do you have many other games?"  
"oh, um, here." he handed her a game from a store in the back. "I haven't had the time to produce enough of these for shelving, but this should work."  
"thank you, how much do I owe you?"

while Gamemaster took care of the shop, Diamond was at the park playing with her newest friends. "over here Pip!" she called out, the ball flying toward her.  
"alright, get it in!" called out Dinky, cheering them on.  
"you little." the bigger foals had challenged them to a buck-ball game.  
"you really think it's going in daddy's girl?" called out the goalie.  
"sorry, Fifthly is gone, Dad is better than him." she kicked the ball into the goal. "and he's a Gamemaster." she grinned.  
"ah son-of-a-whorse" belted out the goalie, as the ball flew passed him.  
"yes, we win!" the three foals hugged.  
"good job Diamond!" said Dinky her lazy eye, like her mother's, fiddling about.  
"you owe us each a chocolate bar." said Diamond.  
"you cheated." said the biggest of their opponents. "you pipsqueaks couldn't have beaten us otherwise."  
"excuse me, please don't accuse my daughter of cheating." said Derpy, gently as flew up to them.  
"oh really? maybe that eye of hers has some special power." he said, a sarcastic bite to his voice.  
"hey! don't make fun of her eye! she can't help it!" Diamond said, glaring at him.  
"what are you gonna do? sic daddy on us?" the largest colt got in her face.  
"no, I don't need him." she said, spitting into his eye.  
"aaah! get her!" he said to his buddies, who came at Diamond.  
"alright, I hope this works." she mumbled as she twisted around and reared back like a spring, before pushing outward, her rear hooves smashing into them.  
"damnit!" the two cried out, holding their now bloody muzzles. "did we really just get bucked by a filly?" they looked at her angrily, blood dripping, and they went at it again when Pipqueak dashed into them. "you bullies!" he knocked them over and stumbled a few feet away.  
"ugh, useless, just stay there." the biggest said, and came at Diamond.  
"look out!" cried Dinky, who flew over and picked him up, lifting him a few feet before dropping him on his muzzle.  
"ah fuggit, it's not worth it, let's go." said the leader, and they left.

"are you okay!?" called out Rainbowdash.  
"yeah." Diamond said, helping to clean off her friends.  
"here come with me, I'll get you guys chocolate." Rainbowdash smiled.  
"I'm going to find their parents and tell them what they did." Derpy said, her lazy eyes curled angrily.  
"don't worry about it." Diamond said.  
"are you sure?" asked Derpy.  
"yeah, right?" Diamond glanced at her friends.  
"yeah, we're fine." said Dinky and Pipsqueak.  
"alright." Derpy said. "I need to get back to work." she flew off.  
"well, Diamond, Pip, you two want a ride?" said Rainbowdash, crouching down.  
"yeah!" they called out.

"hey there Dash." Pinkiepie was at the counter. "what are you guys here for?"  
"four king-size chocolate bars." Rainbowdash took out a hoof-full of bits.  
"alright coming right up!" giggled out Pinkie rummaging behind the counter.  
"thanks." Rainbowdash handed the foals their chocolate.  
"thank you Rainbowdash!" the three of them called out.  
"thanks for the save Pipsqueak." Diamond said, smiling.  
"um, okay." Pipsqueak said nervously.  
"thanks for standing up for me." said Dinky.  
"of course! I couldn't let them bully you like that." she smiled at her.  
"you guys are really good friends huh?" Rainbowdash said through a mouth of chocolate.  
"yeah, I guess we are." Diamond said, Grinning.

"alright, time to close up." Gamemaster muttered as he locked the doors.  
"G, do you and Diamond want to come over for dinner?" Twilight walked up to the shop.  
"I would love to, but I need to ask Diamond." Gamamster smiled.  
"let's walk together." they started walking around to find where Diamond was. "so how was business?"  
"good, remind me to stop at the bank." Gamemaster smiled and looked over toward the park. "huh, looks like their not over there. so how has Spike been?" Gamemaster had been making a sort of gem cookbook with the dragon to pass the time.  
"oh he's been doing fine, the only problem is that he's been getting pretty lonely. there's no other dragons in Pony-ville and he really needs the company of another dragon." she shook her head.  
"huh, maybe there are other students who hatched a dragon." Gamemaster said, looking into the blaster.  
"maybe, but really I just want him to feel better." Twilight shook her head.  
"ugh, I know how you feel though, and him. I'm the only Neighpanese, making me unique." he shook his head and scanned around.  
"well, I like that about you. you're unique, there's no-one remotely like you. and you're all mine." she smirked and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.  
"ugh, I am never going to get used to that, all the touching." he shuddered. " at home the only people who touched me was one really close friend, Senshi, and Father." a single tear began seeping from his eye.  
"it's okay, come here." Twilight moved close to him, and cuddled up to him.  
"oh, you know what, she's probably at the sugarcube corner."  
"yeah, that's probably it." they turned and began walking over.

"hahahahaha! Dinky you're funny. maybe your cutie-mark is going to be comedy."  
_**in my universe Dinky doesn't have her cutie-mark yet, which makes the friendship between Diamond and Dinky more significant.  
**_"maybe." Gamemaster said as he walked into the bakery.  
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Diamond asked, confused. didn't Dad say to head home for dinner at six?  
"well, Twilight invited us to dinner, do you want to go?" Gamemaster asked, and Twilight waved.  
"yeah sure, can I help cook?" Diamond was excited now, she always liked going to Twilight's house.  
"of course you can silly-filly." said Twilight smirking, and they walked toward the exit.  
"bye Dinky! bye Pip! see you tomorrow!" Diamond called out, and her friends waved back.  
"Bye Diamond." they said, and DIamond thought she saw a funny face on Pipsqueak.

"alright, so, giant Diamond, what should we make?" Diamond was riding on Gamemaster's back, and Twilight was looking up at her.  
"we should make spaghetti! and sauce! and salad! and we should make homemade icecream for dessert!" Diamond said, excitedly.  
"well, that seems like a big meal, wouldn't you say?" Gamemaster asked Twilight.  
"yes, but, it is actually my birthday you know." she smirked.  
"it's your birthday?" Gamemaster asked, worried. "I didn't know that!"  
"well, you still got me a gift, and that just makes the gift even better." she gave him a quick kiss. "and you can always give services if you want." she said, giving a sultry look.  
"um, oh, um, okay." he blushed.  
"like cleaning?" asked Diamond bouncily.  
"yes, cleaning, like that." he said, relaxing.  
"well then, spaghetti, with sauce, and salad, and icecream for dessert. that sounds fun. and G, would you mind talking to Spike? I mentioned the problem he was having earlier." she said, looking at him.  
"yeah, I can handle that." he said, as they arrived at the Library. "well Diamond, you go help Twily make dinner, I'm going to help Spike with something." he let her down, and she trotted to the kitchen to help Twilight.

"hey there Spike, Twilight said you were feeling lonely?" Gamemaster asked, trying to catch Spike's attention from his book on the history of dragons.  
"oh, hi G." Spike put down the book, and Gamemaster could see red bloodshot eyes behind where the book was.  
"do you want to talk about it?" he asked, trying to coax him out of his shell.  
"maybe, it's just, I don't know. last time I met any other dragons they were kinda jerks. they kidnapped phoenix' for fun, and teased me for who my friends were. but recently I've been imagining having a dragon friend, and I have been missing the dragons I met, no matter how mean they were." a few tears dripped out of his eyes, which Gamemaster cleaned off.  
"alright." Gamemaster was starting to understand. "real quick, whenever you make an imaginary dragon friend, is it a boy or girl?" maybe?  
"um, usually a girl. but their into to guy things, like comics, and videogames."  
"I see." Gamemaster was starting to understand what was happening.  
"and, um, she always is curvy, like an hourglass, but also thick." he said, as he moved his claws to cover himself.  
"well, calm down. I know what's happening, you're going through puberty." Gamemaster said, as if it were simple.  
"what's that mean?" Spike asked, afraid.  
"well, your body is growing up. you are getting older so you want to meet a girl dragon to fall in love with, but their is none." Gamemaster explained, calmly.  
"huh?" Spike was wondering what he meant. like what him and Twilight felt for each-other? but that was gross. But after he thought about it, it wasn't, not really.  
"you want to procreate, but since there's no female, you're feeling lonely." Gamemaster said.  
"oh, so I'm lonely because I want a girlfriend?" Spike said, finally understanding.  
"yes, exactly." Gamemaster smiled. "so, simply put, you are growing up." he measured him.  
"yeah, there's your problem, don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a girlfriend soon enough." Gamemaster said, patting him on the head.

"well, I see Spike is better." Twilight said, relieved.  
"yep, don't worry, he's just getting older, he's missing other dragons, especially females." Gamemaster breathed in the smell of the food. "that smells good."  
"thank you." Twilight passed around some water. "well, dig in." she said, starting to eat.  
"so Twilight, was Diamond a good filly?" Gamemaster asked sarcastically. as he took a bite.  
"hey!" cried out Diamond, glaring at her Dad, his smirking face making her smile a touch.  
"yeah, she was good, what about Spike?" Twilight asked, as she wiped her face.  
"he's fine, as I said, he just needs another dragon to hang out with, preferably a female; he's hitting puberty." he explained, taking a bite.  
"oh, now it all makes sense." she smiled and ruffled Spikes head. "you're just getting bigger."  
"that's what G said." Spike shrugged. "he said it's normal."  
"well, not with that wording, but yes, it is." Gamemaster took a few more bites.  
"um, what are you guys talking about?" asked Diamond, looking at them.  
"I'll tell you when you're older, promise." Gamemaster grinned, and finished off his food.  
"humph." Diamond crossed her hooves before finishing her food.  
"beyond that, it might be a good idea for me to explain." Twilight said when she finished her food.  
"should I get dessert for you?" asked Spike, looking at Twilight.  
"yes."  
"pearls G?"  
"yeah." Gamemaster smiled, and got up. "actually, let me help you with that."  
"alright." the two men walked out.

"so, what's it like with Twilight? like, on a day to day basis?" asked Gamemaster as they scooped icecream.  
"oh, well, she's fun, she's always talking about her books though, it gets kinda annoying." Spike grabbed a smaller pearl and chewed on it while they worked.  
"I see, predictable really." Gamemaster squeezed some syrup unto the dishes before he placed a few pearls on two of them.  
"um, G, what was it like for you, I mean, puberty?" Spike asked, looking around, suddenly feeling that he was, in fact, more gangly.  
"well, I was alone, so it was, difficult; I had to figure everything out on my own." Gamemaster said, as he picked up the dishes of icecream. "and I was always lonely, so I didn't notice." he sighed. "and it didn't help that I was bullied before. when I came to Pony-ville I wasn't sure whether to trust you all or not to be honest." he shook his head. "well let's bring to the ladies, shall we?" he said, and he brought it out.

"thank you G." Twilight said, as he handed her a bowl of icecream.  
"thank you Spike." Diamond said, as the dragon handed her the bowl.  
"no problem Diamond." he said, blushing. and he sat down and started eating.  
"Twi, um, would you like to head out to the everfree tomorrow, I want to, um show you my old stomping grounds, as it were." he Smiled, hoping she said yes.  
"sure, why not." she said. "Spike can spend the day off." Twilight smiled at her "son".  
"alright, so it's settled." Gamemaster smiled and finished off his dessert. "Diamond you ready to go?" Gamemaster stood up, and walked over to the door, switching shoes.  
"yep, thanks for dinner Twilight, Spike." Diamond smiled and the two of them left.

"good night my shining Diamond, may you never become dull." Gamemaster put him to bed and went to sleep himself, ready to sleep after a long day.

_**and chapter over, hair intact, hopefully.  
**__**Rarity-"not for long! come on darling, I just want to make you look good."  
**__**ugh, you know what Rarity? I'm done with this tonight, I'm tired okay? fashion attack me tomorrow.  
**__**Rarity-"fine, tomorrow you will fget a full makeover."  
**__**no, I just said I was too tired to run right now. do anyways, please leave a review, and if you liked then follow and favorite and remember to give someone a smile today :)**_


	14. Rarity

_**hello my amazingful people! how are you all doing?  
**__**Pinkiepie-"hey how come I don't get much story time?"  
**__**calm down okay? I promise you'll get a chapter soon enough. but now I have a treat, a Rarity chapter, not just G's relationship with her either, her relations with other ponies.  
**__**Rarity-"thank you darling."  
**__**just don't try to fabulize me right now, okay?  
**__**Rarity-"deal."  
**__**alright! so now, it's chapter time.**_

"hello darling." Rarity said, walking into the Blaster.  
"hello Rarity, what do you need?" Gamemaster asked, looking up from a pony-boy game he was making.  
"oh, I was wondering if you had something that I could get a special-somepony."  
"ah, of course, most stallions enjoy games." he began trotting to the war games.  
"oh, I never said a stallion darling, I need something for a farm-hand." she said, blushing.  
"ah , yes, of course." he began scanning for something.  
"ooh, what's this?" Rarity asked, picking up a quelf box.  
"oh, quelf, the point is that you and your party do outlandish things and such, foals love it." Gamemaster smiled.  
"perfect!" Rarity cried out, rushing to the counter and pulled out a large hoof-full of bits.  
"um, that's a bit much." Gamemaster said.  
"keep the change, I'm in a hurry." Rarity ran out, putting the game into her saddle-bags.

"sorry if I'm late Golden." Rarity huffed out, exhausted.  
"it's a'right honey, you know ahm not gonna judge ya." said a golden yellow earth-pony, who was waiting at the train station.  
"I was getting you a gift, here." she handed the earth-pony the game.  
"well, this looks fun, thanks sugarcube." Golden kissed her on the cheek.  
"Gold, wait until we get home, you're here for a few weeks. you don't need to be back at Appaloosa for a long while." Rarity said, blushing and stammering.  
"a'right." Golden smiled and walked next to her as they started walking to the boutique.  
"we have the house all to ourselves for a few days. Sweetie is at Applejack's and I told my clients that I was taking a vacation for a while." Rarity said as they walked, she was quickly regaining her composure.  
"a'right, I hope I get to be wit' Sweetie-belle too. ah want tah meet 'er." Golden waved to Big Mac, who was taking some apples to the Sugarcube corner.  
"you will have plenty of time to talk with her as well." Rarity picked a bit off the floor with her magic.  
"so, did yah have anything ready fer our first real date? I dun think letters count as one." Golden opened the door of the boutique for Rarity.  
"oh yes, of course. I have supper in a crockpot for us and a reservation for a play in Manehatten tomorrow." Rarity smiled. "but for now, I have some tea, coffee, and pastries to have while we talk."  
"well then, ah think y'all have some thin's planned. but dun forget that sometahms just relaxing t'gether is best yah know." Golden sat down and picked up a muffin and a cup of dark coffee.

"well, I must say that living with the bison sounds interesting to say the least." laughed out Rarity after hearing about how little strong-foot had tried to buck a tree and got her hoof stuck in the tree.  
"yeah, an' learning how they live is fun." Golden took a third muffin. "they have a lot o' rituals that are a bit, silly."  
"I know how that feels, there's a pony who moved in, he lived in the Everfree for a while, and before that he lived in a place called Neighpan." Rarity giggled. "he actually spent a whole night dancing for his ancestors."  
"heh, tha' sounds a bit like wha' tah bison do." Golden laughed out, and re-filled her coffee mug, and filled Rarity's teacup. "but tha's enough about them, ahm here to get closer to you, not yer neighbors." she took a gulp of the hot, bitter drink in her hoof. "so then, wha's it like running the dress shop?"  
"it is called a **boutique**, and I find it amazing. whenever I finish an exceptional product I feel so happy and succesful; I suppose it would be how you feel after a successful apple season." Rarity sipped her tea. "and like how you put all your strength into your work, I put my soul into mine; I make it a point to treat every customer fairly, not treating wealthier ponies better because of their money."  
"ah think ah understand what yer talking about; whenever applebuckin' season starts ah can't wait tah start, an' when it comes time tah sell ah make sure tah help every customer we have." Golden took a fifth muffin, and a scone. "an when ah git yer letters ah always have mah heart skip a beat, yer writin' is always so cute." she smiled, and pulled out a piece of paper. "in fact, ah always keep yer first letter with me." she opened it up, and began reading. "hello darling, how are you? I heard recently from a friend of mine that you'd been feeling rather lonely; so I thought I'd start writing you letters. I hope these help you feel better, and I admit, I've been a bit lonely too. so if you want to write back then I would like it. I hope that you get this letter and it helps, Rarity."  
"you, you kept it?" asked Rarity, touched. "I, um, I have all of yours in a file, carefully organized chronologically. though, after hearing you keep one at all times, it makes that feel inadequate."  
"aw, honey, tha's fine, I can tell already that that's the most kind thing in yer head, careful as you are." Golden kissed her cheek. "an' ah love that about yah."  
"and your, rustic charm, is attractive to me." Rarity sent her hoof out at the same time as Golden for the same pastry, and their hooves met.  
"sorry." they both muttered, blushing, and took a different one.

"hello Rarity, how are you?" Gamemaster put his work away while Rarity and an unknown mare walked into the Blaster, the unknown mare wearing a leather cowboy hat.  
"hello G, this is Golden, she's visiting me from Appaloosa and I thought that she might want to meet you." Golden waved.  
"howdy there, Rarity's tol' me about yah. mentioned that yer Neighpanese. ah was wonderin' where is Neighpan?"  
"um, if you don't mind, can we not talk about that?" Gamemaster said, still not ready to talk freely about his homeland.  
"oh, okay, sorry then." Golden was confused, but knew that if somepony said they didn't want to talk about something, you don't.  
"thank you, so Rarity, was meeting your filly-friend the only thing you wanted to talk about? or is there something else? I really to get back to work."  
"what, how did you…?" Rarity stared at him, befuddled, and, worried?  
"simple, you get a game for a, 'special somepony' who 'wasn't necessarily a stallion, then you come later wanting me to meet a sudden 'friend' who I've never met. I may not be the most social pony, but even I can tell some-pony likes a mare. I did, remember?" he smirked, and got back to his project.  
"um, okay?" Rarity was amazed at how, even though Gamemaster was so, awkward, he could so quickly understand somepony without words.  
"if you want to stay and talk, I'll gladly talk with you, but I need to know." he pulsed some more magic into the tin of the cartridge.  
"um, can we, have a double date with you and Twilight tonight, I made some food, and I thought we could all talk, I don't talk with you enough." she said, as if she was trying to hide something.  
"of course." 'what is she hiding? nopony is as awkward as me out of the blue.'  
"thank you." they left, leaving Gamemaster pondering his question.

"Twilight, can I talk to you?" Gamemaster walked into the library, confused.  
"of course, what do you need?" Twilight put down her book of formulas and walked over to Gamemaster, worried; his tone was off, he sounded confused and, worried, Gamemaster never let his emotions visible, he never learned how to trust anypony but her.  
"it's Rarity, she introduced me to her filly-friend today. and something felt off, she was as awkward as me." this was even more odd, he would sometime make fun of his lack of social skills, but he had a distinct sarcastic voice, which was nowhere to be heard.  
"well, um, I'm not sure, I didn't even know she was lesbian, so I'm assuming it's something she felt ashamed about, but why talk to you? no offence." Twilight was baffled beyond any problem before.  
"I don't think she did it on purpose, I only found it out through a careful observation, and how I felt when I would look at you before." he blushed, remembering how awkward everything was before.  
"hmm, well, I see a couple of possibilities. one, she doesn't want somepony to know exactly who her filly-friend is, two, she grew up in a conservative home and homosexual relations was frowned upon, or 3, both." she pulled out a piece of paper and pen and began scribbling ideas and thoughts unto it.  
"we may be able to find it out, she offered a double date, which I find odd, but I also find forks odd so, maybe it's just me, and we should be able to find out then."  
"ah, alright then, just, try not to be too blunt?" Twilight said, remembering the time he said her hair was a mess out of no-where.

"thank you for coming." Rarity said as Gamemaster and Twilight came to the door. "I hope you like haylash."_**goulash/hay  
**_"one of my favorites" Twilight said, smiling.  
"I've, never heard of it, but I suppose that's no surprise, I hardly know how to say hello." he said in the aforementioned sarcastic voice, comfortable with Twilight there.  
"well, this here is a mite better than at the store, eh?" said Golden, grinning, her voice the usual almost masculinely low tone.  
"well then, let's head inside, shall we?" said Rarity, desperate to head inside for some reason.

"well then, Rarity says you live in Appaloosa? how has everything been with the bison?" Twilight said, trying to start a conversation.  
"well, one o' mah cousins ended up marryin' one o' tah bison; great horn ah think." Golden said as she shoveled some hay into her mouth.  
"well then, it seems like you're kinds are getting along well." Twilight nodded.  
"I mus' say though they do some odd thin's out o' tradition. some o' them burn themselves as a right o' passage." she shuddered. "tah be honest it creeps me out."  
"if I may." Gamemaster started, annoyed. "to me, as a Neighpanese, more than a few things you do are odd. when I came here I thought all of you were insane, you touch each other constantly, even strangers. and you are too quick to give your opinion on a controversial subject in public; in Neighpan you keep a controversial opinion for private places." he was really getting heated now. "and you all found several traditions of mine, things I find sacred, odd; such as when I stayed up to honor my ancestors."  
"G, um, can we calm down?" Twilight nudged him.  
"oh, um, sorry." Gamemaster huddled down, blushing.  
"it's okay G, I understand, you're passionate about the subject, nothing to be ashamed of." Rarity smiled and nodded to him.  
"thank you Rarity, um, if I may, you seemed, nervous, when you spoke to me earlier." Gamemaster said, hoping to find out what she was hiding.  
"oh, um, well, um." she seemed uncomfortable.  
"G! I said to make sure to not be too blunt!" said Twilight angrily.  
"no darling, he's right, I should explain." Rarity smiled. "see, when I was a filly, a lesbian couple moved in next door, and mother said that I shouldn't talk to them, walk by their house, or even look at them, so I thought that it was bad. they lived next door for several years and when I was fourteen I went to a blood drive, and Mom was at home. when I sat down for the blood drive one of the two sat down and smiled and said hello. I was worried, Mom said that they were cursed, but then it turned out that the doctor was missing for a while. after a bit we started talking and it turned out that they were really nice people. when I got home I got into a huge fight with Mom and she kicked me out of the house, I came here and began making dresses for everypony here. a few years later Sweetie-belle was sent to me because she also made friends with them. after a while I developed a crush on a mare that I made a dress for, and I thought that I also got cursed like my mom said. a couple of months ago I started to write letters to Golden and Applejack, well, she didn't approve, and so, I guess, I wanted somepony to approve of my love for Golden." she started crying.  
"aw, honey, it's okay, look me in tah eyes." Golden said, turning her lovers face to hers. "yer not cursed, yer Mother was jus' closed minded an' foolish. yer an amazin' mare an' anypony who says yer worse than 'em because you like other mare can say it to my face." Golden looked angry, like she was ready to buck anypony who walked in.  
"I agree Golden, however we should calm down, there's nothing illegal about your relationship, so just love each other, nopony else should have any say in it." Twilight said, patting Rarities head, and wiping her tears. "but for now, this is a double date, so let's enjoy ourselves." Twilight smiled and sat back.

"of course darling, you're right, so then, let's just talk, shall we?" Rarity began telling a story about when Applebloom made a wooden battle-bot and Sweetie tried to get her cutie-mark in fighting.  
"a helicopter!" called out Golden as Gamemaster spun in circles around the board.  
"yes! thank _Amaterasu_! I was getting dizzy." Gamemaster sat down and Twilight rolled the dice.  
"alright Darling, draw a card." Rarity said, as she passed Twilight the deck of quiz cards.  
"okay, names of games!" she said, looking at Gamemaster sneakily.  
"Quelf!" called out Golden.  
"chess!" called out Rarity.  
"igo, shogi, irensei, ninuki-renju, checkers, euchre, buta no shippo, munchkin, go fish, simon says, kings on the corner, blew-it, kurata, texas hold-'em, kanekeri, fukawarai, Tetris, night of the dead, buck-ball, ken ken pa, hanafuda, otedama, menko, set, sorry, majan, majhong, sudoku, kaibun, henohenomoheji, uta-garuta, kaibun…"  
"you already said kaibun G! you lose!" Rarity called out giddily, and moved him back.  
"_kutabare_!" Gamemaster shouted out angrily.  
"what does that mean?" asked Twilight, she'd heard him mumble a lot of Neighpanese, but this was new.  
"you, um, you don't want to know." said Gamemaster nervously.  
"what does it mean?" asked Twilight, even more curious, and Gamemaster whispered into her ear. "G! really!?" she looked disgusted in him.  
"I said you didn't want to know." he said chuckling.  
"well, I need to head home and make sure Spike is heading to bed soon." Twilight said standing up.  
"alright darling. G? do you need to go as well?" asked Rarity as she put the game back into the box.  
"yes, sorry, I need to make sure DIamond is heading to bed." he smiled.  
"you didn't tell me that he had a child." said Golden, curious.  
"ah yes, he adopted her, I'll tell you about it sometime." Rarity said, as she showed her guests off. "for now, I'll show you your room." she took Golden upstairs as Gamemaster left.

"good she's asleep, today was interesting." Gamemaster mumbled as he got ready for bed.  
"really? well what about Rarity keeping secrets from you?" he muttered to himself.  
"go away, I don't want to talk right now." Gamemaster replied to himself.  
"but she didn't trust you enough to tell you about her? really?"  
"that is personal, she doesn't have to tell anypony if she doesn't want to."  
"alright, but how do you know the rest aren't keeping things from you?"  
"shut up! I don't want to talk!" he said as he flopped in his corner, which was now a groove of his sleeping position. "I just want to live in peace." he said as he slowly fell asleep.

_**and chapter done, I hope you all enjoyed it!  
**__**Golden Delicious-"what are we doing upstairs though?"  
**__**hey, hey, hey! leave that to their imagination, K?  
**__**Golden Delicious-"oh, alright."  
**__**and yes, that's her full name, Golden Delicious Apple. man, I like G names, don't I? Gamemaster, Golden, wow.  
**__**Rarity-"well then, David, if you ever want to get some help, feel free to talk with me."  
**__**ugh, I'm not into fashion!  
**__**Rarity-"oh please? you would look so good in this suit I saw, with a few touches…"  
**__**NO! ugh, I like my t-shirts and jeans, thank you.  
**__**Rarity-"oh fine."  
**__**yeah, that's right! so anyway, please leave a review and feel free to tell me what you want to see in a future chapter, if you liked this, then follow and favorite, and don't forget to give someone a smile today :)**_

_**oh, and I don't own Quelf, but it is a really fun game.**_


	15. nightmares

_**Hey guys, wazzup? I really hope you all enjoyed the last chapter, I try to make chapters relevant to current events and so if you look, you should find those references in there.  
**__**Golden Delicious-"so um, how many chapters will I be staying?"  
**__**we'll see, we'll see. for now, time for a cmc chapter.  
**__**cmc-"Cutie-mark crusaders chapter focus YAY!"  
**__**well then girls, are you ready? let's go! *eye of the tiger starts playing* (eye of the tiger isn't mine, duh.)**__**  
**_

"G! G! we have a great idea!" called out Scootaloo as her and the cmc ran into the Blaster.  
"what?" Gamemaster asked, more than once he was asked to help in their ridiculous plans, though he didn't mind.  
"cutie-mark crusaders game makers!" they all shouted, almost shaking the building.  
"game makers?" he said, smiling. "well then, I suppose you want my help then, huh?"  
"yeah!" Sweetie-belle shouted out.  
"alright, well then, would you like me to explain how I make a game?" he said making an AB to run the register and walked to the upstairs with them; he used the second floor as a workshop.

"alright, wasn't sure I'd ever use this for an actual meeting." he said sitting at a chalkboard table with the girls and chuckling. the room looked almost like a dungeon library hybrid, with shelves lining it, full of blank boxes, boards, cards, boxes of paper, piles of tin and copper, and bottles of ink, paint, and jars of pens, pencils, and pieces of chalk. all the paper and ink filled the room with the smell of a library, factory hybrid. It was quiet, but not silent as the children giggled and whispered and flailed their hooves, hitting the floor and table legs. "so, the first and most important step is to have a unique idea." he pulled out some chalk and passed it to them. "so, what ideas do you have?"  
"um, we didn't think tha' far ahead." Applebloom said.  
"wait I know!" said Scootaloo, who began scribbling on the table. "you roll a die."  
"and then you move half the spaces." said Sweetie-belle.  
"ooh then yah answer a question, an' if yah git it wrong then yah don't get tah keep movin'."  
"ooh, ooh, then if you do get it wrong, then the first pony to get it right get's to move!" Sweetie-belle cried out and they finished drawing out a board.  
"well then, that's a great start you three." Gamemaster smiled. "so then, now, what would the questions be?" he walked over to his typewriter and set it to card mode and put in a hoof-full of cards.  
"ooh, they should be about history!" called out Sweetie-belle.  
"and sports!"Scootaloo said laughing.  
"an' plants!"  
"so, how about we have each card have four categories then? history, sports, botany, and fun facts?" said Gamemaster, smiling at them.  
"yeah! that sounds great!" called out the girls.  
"alright, so do you guys have anything in specific you want to be in there?"  
"ooh ah know! what fruit is red, green or yellow?" Applebloom cried out.  
"is it… apples?" Gamemaster said grinning as he typed out the card.  
"who is the fastest flyer in equestria?" Scootaloo said jumping.  
"Rainbowdash?" Gamemaster said, laughing under his breath.  
"yeah! shes the most amazitabulitasic pegasus ever!" Scootaloo flew in a loop.  
"Belle-chan?" Gamemaster looked at her.  
"how much money does sapphire shores make in a year?"  
"hmmm, I don't know actually, how much?"  
"ten million bits! and she donates half to charity!" Sweetie said joyously.  
"alright, should we make that one multiple choice?"  
"yeah, that sounds good." Sweetie smiled.  
"alright then." he finished typing up the questions they mentioned.  
"okay then, do you three want to paint the board while I finish?" Gamemaster smiled as he typed out card after card, pumping them out as an AB quickly read several facts out of a selection of books around them.

"we should put Rainbowdash here!" cried out Scootaloo.  
"no! tha's where the apple is gonna go!" yelled Applebloom.  
"you two…" mumbled Sweetie-belle as she painted a dress unto the board.  
"Rainbowdash!"  
"apples!"  
"Rainbowdash!"  
"apples!"  
"RAINBOWDASH!"  
"APPLES!"  
"how about Rainbowdash eating an apple?" Gamemaster said as he typed up what seemed like the thousandth card.  
"yeah!" they called out, only to see Sweetie-belle painting a gem unto the place they were fighting over. "what!?"  
"you snooze you lose." Sweetie-belle finished painting it. "you two can paint the rest." she sat back and flopped her head across the back of the chair. "making games is harder than I thought." she sighed.  
"this place is mine!" called out Applebloom as she started painting.  
"fine, then here is mine!" called out Scootaloo.

"_Sugoi-desu_!" said Gamemaster amazed and smiling at how professional it was. there was gems, apples, Rainbowdash, some colorful splashes.  
"what's _sugoi_ mean?" asked Sweetie-belle, who always loved learning new Neighpanese words.  
"it means awesome, or cool." Gamemaster said, as he wrapped the cards he typed with rubber bands. "there are one hundred cards here, each with four questions." he put them into an empty box, along with a set of dice, and a cardboard stand for the board. "alright, all that you need is your board." the three fillies put the board in the box, and Gamemaster closed it. "and now for the most important part, the name." he let them sit down to discuss, or really argue, about the name while he went downstairs.

"excuse me, did you see Sweetie?" asked Rarity when Gamemaster walked down.  
"oh yes, her and her friends wanted to try earning their _unmeimaku_ in game making." he dissipated the AB and started going around to straighten the games and move any games that somepony moved. 'ugh, I don't mind them not buying it, but can't they put it back?'  
"_unmeimaku_?" Rarity looked at him funny. "oh wait, Cutie-mark."  
yes, sorry, i don't know why but I've been speaking a lot of Neighpanese today without realizing it." gamemaster shook his head and walked back over to the counter where he continued working on the ponyboy game he'd been working on for weeks."so, how have you and Apple-San been doing?"  
"oh just marvelous, but really, you don't need to use honorifics with her, I promise." Rarity sat down at a table Gamemaster hosted contets with.  
"_so, so, so_. Oh, sorry, I agree, I suppose that years of habit don't just vanish." He laughed as he slid the cartridge into the white box that was the ponyboy.  
"what's this Gamemaster?" Asked Rarity as she stood to get a closer look.  
"oh, um just a project, I'm trying to see how much it can handle, I did too much and now I'm slowly lowering the power needed to run it." He said, as he turned on the device, which soon began smoking. "and seeing when this will stop happening." G said frustrated, blowing out the small flame inside the divide as he fixed it, And he quickly heard Rarity giggling. "is something funny?" He asked as he began rewiring the magical code.  
"oh, it's just the way you ended your statement is all, I really shouldn't be laughing." She stifled he giggles when they heard a loud scream from the upstairs room.

"no! that's horrible and YOU'RE horrible!" screamed Scootaloo.  
"wah's wrong with trivia?" asked Applebloom as she tried slapping the pegasus.  
"it's stupid!" Scootaloo tried to tackle Applebloom before she was caught in Gamemaster's magic.  
"Scootaloo-Kun! Apple-Kun!" he picked both of them up, his voice sounding like a monsters in it's malice. And they floated, immobile, in front of him. Sweetie-belle was hiding scared in the corner, being comforted by Rarity. "_baka, baka, baka baka baka baka baka_!" he shouted at them, getting faster with each shout. "you two are in SO much _nayami_." he said, staring them down. "now listen here, these actions as an adult would have you thrown in level 2 prison, with others who commit life-threatening crimes." he put them down. "now then, would you two like to know what happens then, or are we clear?" he looked at them.  
"no sir." they looked at the ground, afraid to look him in the eyes.  
"good, now then, I think that you have spent enough time here. go home, and I'll tell your parents what happened."

"I am so sorry." said Sweetie-belle as Gamemaster sent messages via AB to Applebloom and Scootaloo's guardians.  
"it is not your fault Belle-chan." Gamemaster finished writing the messages, and turned to her. "you three did just fine until the fight, and I would love to sell your game here. you three will even get some of the money from when it's sold." he smiled. "but it still needs a name."  
"how about 'trivia crusade'"? said Sweetie-belle a smile finally gracing her face.  
"alright, don't worry, I'll finish the art on the box, you head home." he smiled and began completion of the box art for them, and Sweetie-belle left.

"hello G, how are you doing?" Twilight said as Gamemaster walked in.  
"well, the crusaders came and caused some ruckus, but everything is okay." he walked over to Diamond, who was finishing in her coloring book. "hello Diamond, did you enjoy today? Twilight didn't force you to do slave labor did she?" he smiled as his daughter got ready to head home.  
"I had fun, I played a game with Spike, and he said something about 'babes.'" she looked at Gamemaster for an explanation.  
"it's a boy thing, don't worry." he said as he helped her put her saddlebag on.  
"oh, okay." she said, as she walked to the door. "thanks for letting me stay Twilight." she smiled and Twilight waved back.  
"honey, you can get home on your own right? I need to talk with Twilight, I'll catch up." he looked at her and Twilight for an answer.  
"yeah, okay Dad." Diamond said, and she left, the door closing with a resounding thump.

"what do you need G?" Twilight looked at him, seeing the worried look on his face.  
"well, it's just, I've been having more than a few nightmares, and even Luna-Sama hasn't been able to help." he said, sitting down.  
"what are the dreams?" she asked, watching him become more and more uncomfortable.  
"well, um, it starts back in Neighpan, after I kill Trouble." he said, clearly becoming afraid of the memories. "and on the way back. while I'm depressed I watch as you, well, you die from your burns." his eyes began darting, afraid. "then, when I get back, Diamond, um, she died in a train accident waiting." he began shifting about.  
"It's okay, I'll help, keep going." Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder, which visibly calmed him.  
"okay, well, then, a serial killer would show up, and no matter how hard I tried, or how many AB I create, he always fights them off. and as I lose consciousness, I watch him kill all three of the crusaders, and everypony else in the square. and all I can smell, is the blood dripping from my friends. all I can hear, is the maniacal laughter of the killer, who sounded like me. and I can feel a river of blood flow over me, the copper taste filling my mouth. and as I slowly drown, the last thing I see is the killer look at me, and he looks just like me." Gamemaster started pacing to avoid his own fear.  
"I, I don't know. I just know that you're safe, I'm okay, and all of us are safe." Twilight walked up to him and hugged him. " and I'm always here for you, always." Twilight cuddled up to him, both of their bodies seeming to melt together.  
"-alright, thank you Twilight, I, I feel better." he let himself melt into her grasp.  
"you have a filly to catch up to for now. so you better hurry." she said giggling as he reluctantly let himself fall from her hold.

"good night my shining Diamond, may you never become dull." Gamemaster said as he tucked her into her covers.  
"'night." Diamond went to sleep.

"aaah!" screamed Sweetie as the Gamemaster look-alike killed her, her neck slowly falling down the horn, and he shook ger off.  
"what are you!" cried out Gamemaster. "wait." he remembered this, this was his dream, he was dreaming! his calling out was different.  
"hello Gamemaster." said the killer, in a voice that sounded like Gamemaster had drunk acid and eaten nails; he began coming closer.  
"no, I know already that I can't kill you." Gamemaster boxed himself off in a shield.  
"oh, that won't work." said the killer, as he readied a powerful blast, using a derivative of the AB spell. the magic was absorbed by the shield, which became a thousand time stronger. "oh, I see then, you aren't as stupid as you look." the killer got as close as possible to the shield without touching it.  
"what do you want?" asked Gamemaster, afraid.  
"oh, nothing much, just some entertainment. just to play a game." the killer said laughing.  
"this is not fun, listen here, I don't know what you are, who you are, but I want you out of my head!" Gamemaster pounded against the shield.  
"oh, but I think you do know who I am." the killed smiled, his teeth crooked, and Gamemaster woke up, sweating and panting, he looked and it was an hour until he had to wake up.  
"well, I guess I'll get breakfast ready." he said to himself.

_**dun, dun, duuun! do I see an arc coming soon?  
**__**Gamemaster-"please, I need something, anything, please!"  
**__**calm down, alright, calm down. you will be fine alright?  
**__**Gamemaster-"alright."  
**__**good, so now, let's finish a few things. one, sorry, I know I've been doing worse at keeping the chapters going, but I need to clean the house, I've been playing in a band so I need to practice, and flat out writers block. so again sorry. and now then outro time! please leave a review, and if you liked then follow and favorite. and of course, make sure to give someone a smile today :)**__**  
**_


	16. Vlad pt 1

_**hey guys, I am so sorry for the hiatus, I've been saying that a lot lately haven't I? I have had all kinds of family things, and I got new video games, and I rarely get new games, et. but the important thing is, I'm writing this chapter right now. so anyways, time for another arc, yay! let's go! (exciting music starts playing.)**_

"hello G, thanks for coming." Twilight was sitting in the library waiting for Gamemaster to arrive, she had asked for him forever ago.  
"of course, I would gladly come if you need me." Gamemaster smiled and eskimo kissed her. "I just had to fix a few things, the stream had begun to move, I needed to make sure it stays."  
"alright, well, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. G, you need a proper home." Twilight blurted out the last part, and looked away.  
"what's wrong with the cave?" Gamemaster asked sitting down.  
"hey Dad, what are you doing? Diamond walked into the room, and looked at the two of them.  
"oh, Twilight and I are talking, nothing to worry about." Gamemaster smiled. "where are you heading?"  
"to the park, I'm going to play there with Dinky and Pipsqueak." Diamond smiled.  
"alright, have fun." Gamemaster handed her enough bits for her to get herself food.  
"alright, G, listen. I understand that you like the cave, but you have a daughter, you need to have a real home."  
"Twilight, please, I know you're just looking out for Diamond, but she loves the cave; and there's no houses in town, where would I go?" Gamemaster was starting to feel uncomfortable.  
"well, I have a lot of room, you guys can live here, I even set up rooms for both of you." Twilight was proud of her work.  
"really? what if neither of us wanted to live here? what then?"  
"are you saying you don't want to spend more time with me?" Twilight looked at him, offended.  
"no I'm not saying that, I love you, it's just that I can't really live indoors, and…"  
"so it's all about you? not Diamond or me at all?" Twilight was so upset it was maddening. she just wanted to spend more time with him, and she wanted to make sure Diamond was happy, why was he so opposed?  
"no, that's not what I said, not at all. it's just, you couldn't understand. I don't know for sure myself."  
"oh, so now what? you don't think I can help you!?"  
"no, that's not what I said, I'm just confused…"  
"well then maybe you should just leave!" Twilight cried out, at the verge of tears.  
"maybe I will!" Gamemaster left, slamming the door.

"really Twilight? I, I didn't want to make you feel bad, it's just…"  
"just what? you're too pathetic to handle a real relationship?" he began talking to himself again, something that had been happening more and more.  
"no, I, I don't know."  
"of course you don't." he arrived at the park, and saw no trace of Diamond.  
"Diamond?" Gamemaster began looking around. "DIAMOND!?" he began searching frantically. he ran everywhere, eventually showing up at the place he left the forest, maybe he should just leave? maybe other him was right, maybe he couldn't handle this.  
"ggroughhgher!" as he was thinking several Timberwolves appeared from the trees, ready to kill. the pack leader jumped at him, and he swatted it away. the rest followed, and he began a sweaty, bloody fight, and while he was cut apart, and his AB were destroyed, it seemed like their numbers never waned. soon, one of them poisoned him with joke, and his horn began discolored, and he couldn't use his greatest advantages. soon he was ready to die, when what seemed like a new pony came out, and he grabbed some of the antidote herbs, and ground it directly into his blood, and as his horn cleared, he began ripping the timberwolves to shreds, and he managed to kill all of them.  
"oh joy, thank you wolves, I'm finally out." as Gamemaster stood up and healed himself with magic, his face changed. he looked like his own version of Trouble.  
"G? I am so sorry, I shouldn't have said those things, if you want you can stay in the cave." Twilight said to Gamemaster as she ran up to him in the wooden remains.  
"oh? is that what you can him?" Gamemaster said, and he turned and began burning her with his magic.  
"G? ow! that hurts!" Twilight was brought back Neighpan, and she began moaning in pain.  
"oh, beautiful." Gamemaster intensified the magic, and she began screaming. "and I am not Gamemaster, you can call me, hmmm, Vlad." he began laughing, as her screams shot out, music to his ears.

"hi Gamemaster, how are you doing?" Derpy said as she flew by.  
"let's see, oh you're Derpy Hooves? well then, this will be fun you retard." he began pulling her down, and he dragged a random passerby and put them both in front of him. "what shall we play?" he created a magical circle. "how about these rules? you cannot leave the circle until one of you are dead, and you must spill a litre of blood. if you leave then you will have your blood explode out of you, begin!" he left the circle and began laughing, as Derpy looked at the unicorn Vlad had dragged into his 'game'  
"what are we doing?" Derpy said, confused.  
"what are you doing Gamemaster!?" cried out the unicorn.  
"ooh, Banana?" Derpy said, recognizing the sound of her friend's voice.  
"what? you know the rules." Vlad laughed again, and he started dancing around. "come on, do something." he sounded like a whiney baby without a lollipop.  
"no! I am not hurting her!" Banana began walking toward the edge of the circle.  
"what? you would kill yourself for this idiot? you could easily beat her."  
"maybe, but I'm not demented." Banana said as she left the circle. as soon as her last hoof left she opened up, blood pouring from her pores, as she died from internal bleeding. "I'm. not. a. monster." she said, as her life ebbed away.  
"Banana? why are you bleeding? do I need to get nurse red-heart?" Derpy was shaking her, not understanding what Vlad had done. "are you, are you dead?"  
"you finally got it." vlad kicked her away and dipped his hoof into the blood, rubbing on himself and licking it up. "ahh, how enjoyable." he left, ready to find a new toy.

"Twilight? was wrong?" Applejack found Twilight, writhing in pain.  
"it's, it's G, remember Trouble?" she scraped out, ready to pass out from the burning all over her.  
"how could ah forget?"  
"he's got the same thing. we had a fight this morning, and then he couldn't find Diamond, then he got into a fight with Timberwolves, and it was too much for him." she panted, barely holding on to consciousness.  
"we need to tell everypony else."  
"no, just give me a second. I know that he's in there, just like he knew his dad was in Trouble. I know he loves me, I can get him out." she said, as she lost consciousness.  
"Twi… dun worry, ah'l git everypony inside, and we kin wait until yer better." Applejack started dragging her to the barn so she could rest, and then she would warn everypony.

"Gamemaster, what are you doing?" Rarity cried out as she watched as two ponies tried desperately to stay inside inside of a circle that was moving, and it went faster and faster.  
"oh, Gamemaster is stuck in my head, just like I was stuck in his. I am Vlad, and I'm just playing a game." he said, when one of the running ponies tripped, and he left the circle. he burst into white flames and he screamed as his flesh melted off of him. "ah, music."  
"music!? you know nothing about it!" Rarity cried out.  
"really? how about this then?" Gamemaster made a circle for her, and a piano, with a challenging piano solo on the music holder. "if you know so much about music, play this. if you mess up, you lose, and if you lose, you lose a hoof."  
"fine, I'll play along, for now." she placed her hooves up to the keys and began playing, her hooves flying.  
"heh, well then, this is interesting, but not fun." he smiled and his horn started to glow. soon bats started flying around her, made of magic. "this will make things more interesting." Rarity was terrified of bats, she could barely stand the fruit bats at Sweet apple acres.

"there, I'm done." Rarity could hardly stand it anymore, her heart was about ready to burst out of her chest in fear.  
"well then, you win."  
"well then what do I win maniac?" Rarity was ready to strangle this, Vlad.  
"you kept your hoof, is that not enough?" he glared at her. "you ungrateful wretch." he left, gone before Rarity could react. and she fell, crying. Golden running out to try to help.

"Diamond, come 'ere." Applejack took her and a few others to the orchard where they wouldn't be caught by the rampaging mad-pony.  
"what happened to Dad?" Diamond asked.  
"it's complicated sugarcube. but we'll have 'em back tah normal in no time." Applejack patted her head and they sat with the others. "ahm gonna find some more ponies to bring here, dun worry, he'll be himself soon." she looked over to Twilight, who was still recovering. "ah hope."

"where is everypony? don't you want to play?" Vlad was wandering, trying to find somepony to 'play' with.  
"oh, um, hi Gamemaster, who are you looking for?" Fluttershy was only just coming into town, and she was so naive.  
"oh hello Fluttershy, do you want to play a game?" Vlad smiled, and it looked so wrong, like his teeth were ready to jump out and shred her alive.

_**I know It's short, but I thought I'd leave you with a cliff-hanger, bwahahahah! I actually left hints from chapter one that this was gonna happen, so head back and see if you can find them. so anyways, please leave a review, and if you liked follow and favorite, and of course, remember to give someone a smile today, but not a creepy Vlad smile, those aren't as nice. :)**_


	17. Vlad pt 2

_**welcome to Vlad part 2, did you find some of the foreshadowing in the old chapters? and I hope that you didn't get too worried at the end of the last chapter. so now then, without further ado, let's go.**_

"um, okay, what do you want to play?" Fluttershy asked; she loved playing games with him, he always made the best.  
"how about hide and seek? you hide, and if I find you I get to kill you, however I want. you have thirty seconds." he closed his eyes, and made a circle surrounding the town. "you have to hide in town for an hour. leave, and I automatically win." Vlad laughed and began counting. "_ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyuu, juu_…" and his voice became louder with each word, and Fluttershy began trembling. "what if I win?" she asked, her voice cracking.  
you live, _juu-san_…" and with that Fluttershy snapped and ran in fear to Rainbowdash's house.

"a'right, tha's everypony." Applejack sighed, as long as he didn't come here before Twilight got better nopony else would get hurt.  
"wait, where's Fluttershy?" Rainbowdash asked, looking around.  
"she's probably at her place darling, don't worry." Rarity said, as she tried to keep Golden calm.  
"no, you don't understand, it's three!" Rainbowdash ran to the door.  
"wah's that mean?" Applejack was confused.  
"she was going to come into town for some medical supplies, she's out there with him!" she bucked down the door and flew out, gone in a split-second.

"ready or not, here I come. heh." Vlad opened his eyes and began searching. Fluttershy could still hear him, she had busted a leg tripping over Banana's bags as she left. "where are you? don't worry, it won't be **too** painful." he laughed as he slowly drew closer to her. "well, alright, I lied, it will be **very** painful." he began laughing harder, his voice sounded as if he was breathing sand. when he was almost ready to find her he screamed in pain and Fluttershy was able to escape.

"what are you doing!" Vlad shouted at his oppressor, angry. he was about to win!  
"stop this! this is my body!" Gamemaster shouted as they stared down one another in the land of the mind.  
"no, fool, this is our body, I was in here all our life too. I felt the sting of mocking, and the burning of our childhood. I was there as we fought, and I helped us survive too. I was there to help you fight things you were too weak to kill yourself. I was the voice in your head helping you stay alive, because I was you, just like you're me. the only difference now is that I'm at the wheel now at long last. all our life I've been stuck in here, watching you stumble through life; and unable to do anything but scream for escape. you've been in charge the whole time, but now I'm out, so you get to deal with the same things I did. you get to deal with the helplessness. you get to deal with the fact that now, you'll simply be a voice in my head." Vlad laughed.  
"please! just stop! I can't stand to watch you hurt and kill everypony I've grown to like since Twilight convinced me to stay. you killed Banana, and I went to her for all my non-apple fruits, and she gave Diamond a free cake when she fell and hurt herself. you killed the pony who helped me earn about Equestrian sports to stock my store, and you almost killed Rarity, who helped when we were in Neighpan to handle Father."  
"A task you would never had done without me there to help!" Vlad shouted out, ready to rip Gamemaster apart.  
"and listen here, you shouldn't even exist, you're here because of cruel Maregolian magic, nothing else." Gamemaster stomped his hoof down and tried to break his way past Vlad and back into control, when Vlad bucked him backwards, into a corner of his mind.  
"no, you've had over twenty years, it's my turn." he laughed and closed the door, leaving to do what he wanted.

"Rainbowdash!?" Fluttershy flew over to her, and grabbed on.  
"Flutters? oh thank Celestia, let's head to the orchard." she began flying her over.  
"wait! I can't leave town, if I do I lose. and if I lose he get's to kill me. I need to hide for forty more minutes." Fluttershy shot out, not wanting to lose.  
"oh no, did he trick you into a 'game'?" Rainbowdash asked, worried.  
"yes, I, I'm scared. what's wrong with G?" Fluttershy could hardly stay conscious; between her fear, and her leg.  
"remember Trouble?"  
"um, yes."  
"he's got the same thing. don't worry, I'll help you hide up in the clouds where he can't get you."  
"oh no, please, not the clouds. I don't think I can be that high for that long." Fluttershy hid behind a crate.  
"alright, hide, I'll draw him away." Rainbow couldn't bear to think of how that, thing, would kill her friend.  
"how?" Fluttershy looked around.  
"rocks, rattles, stuff like that." Raibowdash flew away, leaving Fluttershy to hide.

"where are you Flutters?" Vlad laughed out as he tore apart the streets. he pulled a door from it's hinges and held it nearby while he walked into the house, looking around when he heard a clatter from the alley outside. "there you are." he ran out, firing the door back to the house. he ran around the corner to only find a fallen rubbish bin, but no prey. "well then, you got away for now. but you still need to manage to stay away for a while yet, I'll find you." he giggled as he kicked down another door and kept searching.

"alright then, what next?" Rainbowdash looked around and saw the bell tower on the school. "yeah, that'll do." she watching Fluttershy hide in town hall across town, and she flew over to the bells. "one quick buck should get his attention. wait, no, he'll hear that it was a buck. hmm? oh, I know!" she flew full force into the bell, and it gonged with a soft sounding, yet loud, noise across town, as if Fluttershy had bumped into it as she was running. "yep, that'll do it." Rainbowdash grinned as she flew off and watched Vlad running vainly to the school.

"hmm?" Vlad looked over at the school as he heard the bells go off. "heh, schools on little ones." he laughed as he ran over to the school, running past Fluttershy hiding under the steps of the town hall as he ran over.

"Diamond, how are yah holdin' up?" asked Applejack as she went around to keep everypony calm while the nurses tried to get Twilight up again.  
"um, okay. I'm just confused, and scared." Diamond was playing patty-cake with Pinkiepie to keep calm.  
"ah understand, but ah promise that e'rythang will work out." Applejack ruffled her mane while she went over to where Twilight was recovering.  
"how are y'all doin' Twi?"  
"better, but I can't quite head out yet, my hooves aren't ready for walking."  
"it's a'right, jus' get better." Applejack smiled and continued her rounds.

"what!? she's gone already!? aarrghghghg!" Vlad kicked the bell, and it rang out angrily. "well then, you may be able to hide well for now, but you only have so much room to hide." he smiled. "and you can't hide from two of me, kukukukukukukuku!" his horn glowed a blood red as he made an AB version of himself. "now then, find the whorse!" he laughed as his doppelganger left to do his bidding. "now then, I need to find her too." he walked out and began tearing through the town again.

"oh no, this is going to be hard." Rainbowdash watched at a glowing AB of Vlad ran around, while the real one searched in the other direction. "hmmm." she grabbed one of the many fallen bags on the street and filled it with rocks. "yeah, this'll do, we just need to hold out a half hour more, then she wins." she began throwing rocks at metal trash bins, and roofs, leading both of them on wild goose chases, while Fluttershy kept moving, following Rainbowdash's directions.

"oh dear, this is not good. oh hello there mousy, what are you doing?" Fluttershy asked the mouse who had joined her under the stage in the square.  
'squeeek.' the mouse said.  
"oh dear, a glowy red unicorn is coming? I'd better move, do you have somewhere else I can hide?" Fluttershy watched as the AB walked by.  
'squeek, squee squeeek squeek squeek.'  
"oh thank you." Fluttershy waited for the AB to look away and she darted to a nearby crate that he had searched. *clunk* as she slipped under the crate made a slight sound.  
'oh, please don't hear.' Fluttershy thought, cringing as she watched it turn around and started walking toward her. 'goodness, I am so sorry to all the animals at the gala for scaring you, and for the time I put grits in Angel's oatmeal accidentally.' *clank* as she was listing off everything she 'did wrong' a sound came from the side. 'oh thank you Rainbowdash.' she thought as the AB ran to the side.

"huh? where did that come from?" Rainbow said to herself as the AB ran off when a rock hit a barrel. "ah whatever, where's that mad-pony?" she flew off to find Vlad.

"Vlad stop! please stop!" Gamemaster called out, trying to pull him in to protect everypony else for a while.  
"oh shut up! you've been shouting for almost a half hour!" Vlad couldn't take it anymore, he had to shut him up!  
"I refuse to allow you to hurt anypony else!"  
"ugh shut up! you are the bane of my existence! just leave me alone!"  
"really? you did this to me."  
"ugh, just shut up!"  
"no! you never shut up!"  
"you are acting so childish!" this was ridiculous! he was only wasting time! he had, wait, what!? "you son of a whorse!"  
"yep, guess who's out of time? the AB dissolved and Fluttershy won, she's probably heading somewhere safe right now."  
"you're right, probably Sweet Apple Acres, thank you, you've been so helpful." Vlad left the mind-plains to get himself a new toy.  
"ah damn, please, help me, somepony."

_**and there's the second part, don't worry it's over next chapter, no more cliff-hangers for a while. so anyways, please leave a review, and if you liked then follow and favorite, and of course, remember to give someone a smile today :)**_


	18. Vlad pt 3

_**finale! I hope you've been in shock, suspended from mile high cliffs, and found everything generally interesting. so now, without further adieu, the chapter!**_

"Twi! I got Fluttershy!" Rainbowdash flew into the barn.  
"good, I wish I could say the same though." she winced as one of the nurses applied more burn cream.  
"dun worry Twilight, you'll get well enough soon." Applejack sighed as she passed apples around to keep the children quiet.  
"I hope so, I hate to even think about how Gamemaster must feel stuck in there.  
"let me out you bastard!" Gamemaster was crazed, smashing against the sides of his mental prison.  
"shut up!" Vlad didn't bother entering, he just shouted out loud.  
"I refuse to allow you to hurt anypony else!" Gamemaster continued his rampage. why? why was he stuck in there? he had the will of a cockatrice, how did he still lose? he stabbed his horn into the squishy walls, and he felt the stinging pain of his head as well as Vlad, as both grunted in pain.  
"you're not going to get out by hurting us." Vlad said, still refusing to grace Gamemaster with his mental presence.  
"I swear on the my family I will escape! and you know as well as I that you can only escape once!" Gamemaster shouted as he watched through Vlads eyes as they drew closer to the likely location of all the ponies. he could kill them all with a giant rock or something, but that would be too impersonal. Vlad wouldn't do that, he would want to torture each one with a 'game' first. Gamemaster sighed, this was ridiculous. "listen, I'll play a game with you, blackjack, a single round. if I win, you let me out, if I lose, I'll be quiet. and remember, no setting the deck or rearranging the cards during play, all legitimate." he shouted.  
"well then, now you're speaking my language." Vlad finally entered the mindscape and he grinned, the smile as frightening as ever.  
"alright, remember, legit deck, no rearranging the cards or any other form of cheating." Gamemaster made a deck of cards with magic. "you want to deal?" he asked, looking the monster in it's eyes.  
"yes, I'll deal." he grinned and drew two cards for himself, the mystery card and the king of spades. he dealt out Gamemaster his cards, the queen of diamonds, and the seven of clubs, seventeen.  
"hit me." the ace of hearts, eighteen.  
"hit me." the two of spades, twenty.  
"hold." Vlad flipped his mystery card, the ten of diamonds. and he drew one last card, the ace of spades.  
"well, you have twenty, and I have twenty one. I think you know who wins." Vlad smiled and disintegrated the deck. "meaning you're not allowed to talk up there any more." he grinned and left, leaving a silent Gamemaster defeated and broken.

"Hello? Miss?" An unknown voice piped up from the door of the barn.  
"Yeah?" Rainbowdash turned around and was faced with a griffon she hadn't met.  
"Do you need any more help with the madman slinking about?"  
"Wait? That was you before?" Rainbowdash looked him up and down, he looked oddly, familar. He had black feathers, except his face and fur, which was an almost white tan color.  
"Yeah, that was me." He said, as he stretched his wings. "Names Jericho, Jericho der totüng" he smiled at Rainbowdash. "But really, you need help?"  
"Um, maybe?" Rainbowdash didn't know why, but she really liked this, Jericho, character.  
"Alright then, just ask." He grinned and left for the time being.

'Ugh, why did I have to choose blackjack?' Gamemaster thought to himself as he silently beat away at the walls of his prison. 'This is madness, if he hurts Twilight I swear I will kill both of us if I can't get out. no! don't think like that! I WILL get out, and I WILL control this monster.' he rammed against the walls, ready to kill himself if he needed to. he was so angry at himself for getting so angry at Twilight. why couldn't he have just lived in her place? it couldn't be that bad, could it? he hit his head on his wall and silently continued to beat himself up while he tried to escape.

"so, where did you come from?" Rainbowdash asked Jericho as they waited for Twilight to get better.  
"oh, no-where in particular really, I just wander." Jericho smiled as he sharpened his claws and cleaned his magic pistol.  
"but you had to come from somewhere." Rainbow insisted, she still wasn't sure why, but she felt like she knew him, and that she wanted to get to know him.  
"not from here, when I was younger I was in a different place, my parents and brother died because of some stupid things I did. then Discord offered me an opportunity to restart my life, and here I am. now I just try to reset my karma from my old life." he was clearly at ease with his past, despite how awful it was.  
"I-I'm sorry." Rainbow could relate, she got lost as a filly, and she still didn't know where her parents had gone to. she imagined that they looked for her, but with how popular she became she figured they were either dead, or didn't care about her.  
"don't be. I understand what I did, I've come to terms, and now I just want to even out fate." he repeated his old statement and holstered his gun.  
"um, well, you want to help me find where Vlad is?" she wanted to spend more time with him, that and flying helped her process information. just like she leaned better when she was flying.  
"sure, I'll take west-side, I'll find you if I come across the madman." he walked over to the door and took off. Rainbowdash following closely as possible for as long as possible.

"G, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Twilight was still in so much pain, but all she could think about was how helpless Gamemaster must feel. she would go insane almost instantly if she couldn't control herself, especially if whatever was controlling her wanted to hurt her friends. she would do anything to get Gamemaster out of his prison.  
"honey, calm down, if you don't calm down your blood will flow faster, and it will make the burn cream work slower." nurse Redheart was trying to heal Twilight as fast as possible, if everypony was right she was their only hope.

"ah yes, hello there sweet apple acres. maybe the blood of the tortured will help the trees grow better." Vlad had arrived, and Gamemaster was trying to hold him back as well as he could.  
"oh stop it, you know pain only feeds me." he chuckled, which sounded creepily normal, not like a maniac but like somepony had said something funny. "now then, how should I kill them? maybe a deathcourse? that could be interesting. or maybe a giant arena, make them all fight to the death, we'll see how powerful their 'friendship' is when the winner gets to live. or maybe both? but how would that work?" he loved this situation; nopony could defeat him, he could destroy the entire planet if he wanted, and Gamemaster wasn't getting out any time soon. he would make that red asshole pay! he'll have to watch as his entire community dies before him. he didn't know what it was like, having to be in there for so long! having to watch, un-able to do anything for over twenty years! almost suffering from sensory deprivation, or sometimes sensory overload. to watch as things he loved fall before him, unable to do anything. like when Sakura was being beat by those bullies, he would have taken them out so fast. but no, that wimp was too afraid to help his only friend. if he had just let him out for a few minutes she would have kept her wings.

"um, sugarcube, ah don't want to rush y'all, but he's here." Applejack said as she watched Vlad talk to himself.  
"already? oh no." Twilight began standing up, and she fell down, unable to stand yet.  
"dun worry, he's tryin' to work out wah to do with us." she watched as he began walknig up to the barn.  
"hello Applejack, how are you?" he called out, laughing.  
"I'm going!" she forced herself up and walked over to the barn door, each step flaring up in pain through her entire body.

"hello Twilight." he said, as he smiled an almost legit looking smile.  
"Gamemaster, listen, I'm sorry for how I treated you, okay? I should have been more understanding."  
'it's not your fault, it's mine for getting so angry.'  
"and listen, if you're blaming yourself, don't. you responded in a normal way, alright? you've gad to deal with so much, and I should have understood that better. listen, I know that I'm not the best filly-friend, but I'm trying my best. I-I've never been in a relationship before, and I'm trying to figure this all out as much as you are." she said, sighing. "and listen, I'm fine, you didn't hurt me, see?" she forced a semi-legit looking smile.  
'I'm sorry Twilight, but, I'm sorry. it's still my fault.' Gamemaster was so unable to accept what had happened still, and he still needed time; time he didn't have.  
"missy, he's not escaping." Vlad laughed. "and for the time being, you can go back in." he picked her up, roughly, and got ready to throw her into the barn.  
'no!' Gamemaster barely forced enough effort into his thoughts for him to release her, and she fell, and ran up to him, hugging the shared body.  
"listen G, I'm fine, and you're fine; you are an amazing stallion and I really wish that I had all of the time in the world to spend with you, but for now, we have this one life, and I want to spend as much of it with you as possible." she smiled. "even if it means having to live with you **and** Vlad."  
'wait, what? she-she's okay with me being part of him?' Vlad thought to himself as he relaxed, with an odd feeling washing over him. before Gamemaster shoved at him in a burst. and his body started thrashing about as both fought with equal force.  
'listen here, self, she's right; it's not our fault! it's his fault!' he shoved against him in their mind as they struggled, and Vlad continued to push.  
"Gamemaster, listen. none of us hate you. in fact, you are one of the most loved ponies here. you are generous, kind, and you are the only stallion for me." she called out, trying to help him escape. she knew not everypony liked him, especially after this, but she needed Gamemaster back, so badly. with a final mental thrust he shoved himself out, and regained control of his body. and he fainted, but not before saying one simple statement. "I love you."

"nurse Redheart, will he be okay?" Twilight hadn't moved from his side since he was put in her bed to recover. he'd been lying there for almost a week.  
"hard to say right now. it looks like he may have a lever of ptsd, but again it's hard to say. we'll need to wait for him to wake up before we can do any tests. but if you're talking about his vitals then he's doing fine." she smiled. "you should go out for a while though, you haven't moved."  
"no, I'm not leaving him. I need to be here for him when he wakes up." she almost snapped at her.  
"alright then, if you need anything just ask."  
"alright."  
"are you sure you don't want to move him to the hospital?"  
"yes, I'm sure. this alone will be a lot out of the norm." she turned back to him as the nurse left. she watched his chest expand and relax and she soon found herself breathing in time with him.

"Twilight? Darling? are you alright?" Rarity and Golden had showed up to help Twilight cope.  
"I'm fine for now, thanks."  
"ah brought y'all an apple fritter, came out o' the oven right before we left." Golden handed her the pastry.  
"thank you Golden." Twilight took a bite of the fritter, steam coming out of the hole she had made.  
"darling, I understand you want to be here for him when he wakes up, I would do the same for Golden." Golden smiled at her as Rarity continued. "but it's been a week, please, just take a walk, or something."  
"no, what if he wakes up? I need to be here for him." she sat down more firmly, almost as if she was trying to bond to the chair.  
"alright then darling." Rarity sat down next to her. "then we'll sit with you." Golden sat next to Rarity and cuddled up to her. "you need somepony to talk to other than nurse Redheart." Rarity kissed the top of Golden's head and watched Gamemaster with her.

"hello." Rainbowdash, Jericho, and Fluttershy arrived at the library, finding Rarity and Golden asleep and Twilight awake, still watching Gamemaster.  
"hello Rainbow, Fluttershy, Jericho." she said, not looking away from her love.  
"room for us?" Jericho asked as they sat down opposite of Twilight.  
"sure." Twilight was still refusing to look away from Gamemaster, hoping to see just the slightest twitch.  
"are you okay?" Jericho asked, watching her intently.  
"yeah, I'... alright, I'm not okay. every day, every night, I'm here, waiting, hoping to see any movement. and, nothing." she sighed. "I'm just, tired. I've only slept twice, and each time I woke up hoping he'd be awake, and, nothing." she sighed again and closed her eyes for barely a half second.  
"I understand." Jericho said, everypony expected him to continue but he stopped there.

"howdy there Twi, are you alright?" Applejack walked in with Pinkiepie.  
"hey Twi." Pinkie seemed oddly tame, as opposed to her usual explosively bubbly self.  
"hey there girls." she watched Gamemaster, along with everypony else there, including Jericho.  
"wait, I think I saw something." said Pinkiepie, her bubbles back.  
"you did!?" Twilight leaned in closer, and saw his eyes flutter just a bit.  
"ughh." Gamemaster barely gurgled, yet still didn't wake up.  
"G?" Twilight asked as she leaned in closer. "are you waking up now?" she was so anxious everypony could feel it.  
"T-Twi?" Gamemaster opened his eyes and looked at her.  
"G!" she kissed his and his eyes shot open.  
"oh I'm so glad you're awake."  
"how long have I been out?" he asked as he sat up.  
"wait, how do we know it's him?" Jericho asked.  
"because I don't know who the heck you are." he said. "and I know that Twilight is the most amazing pony ever, and Diamond is my amazing daughter." he said.  
"but wouldn't he know those things?" Jericho said still suspicious.  
"ugh, listen, I can let him talk to you if you want to know what he's saying."  
"huh? I thought he couldn't get out now?"  
"yeah, but I can let him do things, he's still in there." he said, before he sighed.  
"let me out of here! you know I'm better than you you insane colt! wait, I'm talking? yes! he didn't take over! wait, then why can't I move?" everypony could feel the difference in his speech, tone, even his face.  
"because I'm only letting you talk."  
"oh come on, really?"  
"yes."  
"fine." Vlad stopped talking, dejected. "oh, and hi Jericho, good job to you and Rainbow for keeping Fluttershy alive."  
"you're, congratulating us?" Rainbowdash was confused.  
"yes, I may enjoy the pained screams you let out, and the feeling of blood and flesh flowing on me and down my throat, but I know when I've lost." Vlad said, as he retreated. "you never know, I may talk again, and for that time, I wait with bated breath."  
"wait, you can do that too?" Pinkie asked as her hair became semi-straight.  
"hey, I can talk?" Pinkie said, her voice reminding them of when they had the surprise party for pinkie.  
"pinkie, wait what?" Twilight said.  
"oh, my great-great-grandfather was from Neighpan, I got the same thing." she smiled.  
"yeah, but she lets me play for a while, as long as I don't hurt anypony." pinkamena said, semi-happy.  
"huh, maybe Vlad and, what's her name?"  
"Pinkamena."  
"Pinkamena, can talk."  
"I'd like that." said both alternate personalities.  
"well, this town just gets weirder." Twilight said, and then they all laughed. "just, don't let that happen again."  
"well, I won, so I guess you could say he's, tamed, I guess?" Gamemaster said, smiling. "but for now I just want to bring my stuff here."  
"no, you can stay in the cave." Twilight said. "you just rest a bit longer, and tomorrow I'll bring Diamond over." Twilight began writing a letter to Celestia pardoning Gamemaster, and explaining what had happened.  
"alright, I can't wait to see my shining Diamond." he said, before he went back to sleep.

_**well then, I do believe that leaves room for a lot of chapters, huh?  
**__**Vlad-'hey, will I come out any more?'  
**__**depends. so now then, I hope you enjoyed, if you did follow and favorite. please leave a review, and feel free to tell me what you want to see in the future. and of course, remember to give someone a smile today :)**_


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